


Fated To Save

by ComicNerdForLife



Series: Fated [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Basically I Made A Couple Of My OC's Go Through Some Tramatic Stuff But They Get Through It, Canon-Typical Violence, Charlie Swears A LOT, Dysfunctional Family, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Fluff and Angst, Please Don't Yell At Me I'm Fragile, Strong Language, There Might Be Some Triggering Things But It's Not Too Bad, i try my best
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:27:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 59,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23697727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ComicNerdForLife/pseuds/ComicNerdForLife
Summary: Going to the past on a mission to save everyone? Easy. Going to the past to do said mission and bumping into younger versions of your parents who don't know who you are? Not so much. Follow along as the children of The Seven go into the past to help their family save the world. Hilarity, Awkwardness, and Heartfelt Family moments ensue. (Book One of Three)
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Calypso/Leo Valdez, Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: Fated [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1706626
Comments: 3
Kudos: 58





	1. Charlie I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here you get introduced to our protagonists of the entire series and get a glimpse into the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Everyone! My name is Comic! I originally posted this story on fanfiction and it did well so I decided to post it here. Have fun with this story! I first started writing it when I was 14/15 and I'm now almost 18. This was the first written work I'd EVER posted and it definitely shows but regardless I'm proud of it. I'm proud of far I've come as an Author and as a person. Writing and reading fanfic helped me so much, especially in recent years, and I'm so thankful of everyone who's ever commented, favorited, and followed this story over on fanfiction. I'm also thankful for whoever reads it on here. So welcome to my story, I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Comic Out!

**(Charlie POV)**

Charlie knew the moment that he woke up and heard an explosion outside his house that it was going to be a bad day. He just didn't know how bad it was going to be. If he had, he would never have gotten out of bed that morning.

Rolling out of bed, he rushed outside and grabbed one of the panicking centurions running around like headless chickens. "What the hell is going on?" He _not so calmly_ asked.

"The giants broke through the wards, Sir! Praetor Zhang has ordered everyone to the front lines to fight while you and your cousins do the spell!" The centurion screamed back before running off to what Charlie assumed was the front lines.

Cursing under his breath, he ran back inside, screaming for his roommates to get up. Rushing to his closet to grab his go bag, he vaguely heard them stumbling out of bed just as another explosion went off, worryingly closer this time.

Meeting them in the hallway, Charlie yelled. "Grab your go bags and get dressed! The giants broke through the wards and will be hear soon! Emily's dad ordered everybody to the frontlines while we do the spell! Meet me outside!"

He saw that they were wide awake now, scrambling back to their rooms to get their stuff, Zack tripping in his haste and nearly bringing Ethan down with him. Leaving them to sort themselves out, Charlie turned back to the front door, feeling glad he had been too tired to change out of his clothes last night as he stuffed his sock covered feet into his worn sneakers.

He rushed outside and sprinted into the girl's house, sighing with relief when he saw them coming out of their rooms fully dressed with their packs on. "What's going on?" Lily asked, getting down to business.

He quickly reiterated what he had told his roommates, the girls swearing in unison when Charlie finished, pushing him out the door to see for themselves. Charlie turned and saw Ethan and Zack running out of their shared house, coming to a halt in front of them as the girls stared in horror at the battle raging.

"Do we have everything we need, Charlie?" Silena asked, forcing herself to be calm.

He nodded grimly as he began ushering them off to the war room. "Yes, but we need to go now or we won't get the chance too."

A third explosion went off, far closer than the two previous ones. Charlie gritted his teeth as he tried to block out the sounds of the fight raging on behind them. It went against every instinct he had to walk away, but he and his cousins had a far more important mission to do. The door to the war room opened and Will stuck his head out, spotting the group quickly and waved them over.

Diving into the room, Charlie noted that along with Will, Hazel and Calypso were also there. Zack rushed to his father at the same time Emily and Lily lunged for their respective mothers.

Will glanced at the three left and said "The other parents wanted to be here too, but they were needed on the battlefield. They said to tell you they loved you and to stay safe over there."

Charlie, Silena and Ethan nodded in understanding, leaving the parent/child duos to their goodbyes while the three of them prepped for the spell. Charlie fought back a wave of emotion at his parent's message, focusing instead on drawing the symbols on the ground needed for the spell with the other two.

Seeing them step away from their children, he forced himself to step over and say "If we're doing this we need to do it now." Nodding grimly, they pushed their kids in the direction of the other two before turning to face Charlie.

"Charlie, I hope you know we're all incredibly proud of you, especially your parents." Hazel said, laying a hand on his cheek.

Charlie swallowed hard, doing his best to keep a steady expression. He nodded, causing her to smile.

She dropped her hand and gained a stern look. "Now you protect those cousins of yours, especially Emily. She's the youngest and least experienced."

He set his shoulders back and gave a sharp nod. "Of course I will, I'll keep her safe."

She smiled wryly and nodded. "Of course."

Charlie turned to Will and Calypso. "That goes for the others as well."

Shaking their heads in amusement, Calypso dryly stated. "We know, the six of you have been protecting each since birth."

Smirking faintly, he nodded and walked to the others, taking his place in the circle they had formed. Grasping Emily and Silena's hands, he nudged Emily. "Start the spell, kiddo."

He got a rude look for the nickname as she did as he asked. "I Emily Marie Zhang; Daughter of Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque call upon the Horai, the goddesses of time to grant us passage into the past."

Zack went next. "I Zachary di Angelo Solace; Son of Nico di Angelo and Will Solace call upon the Horai, the goddesses of time to grant us passage into the past."

Lily flashed a nervous grin as she went. "I Lillian Esperanza Valdez; Daughter of Leo Valdez and Calypso call upon the Horai, the goddesses of time to grant us passage into the past."

Ethan rolled his shoulders back. "I Ethan Julian Ramirez-Arellano; Son of Reyna Ramirez-Arellano and Grandson of Bellona call upon the Horai, the goddesses of time to grant us passage into the past.

Silena squeezed Charlie's hand as she spoke "I Silena Amber Grace; Daughter of Jason Grace and Piper McLean call upon the Horai, the goddesses of time to grant us passage into the past.

Charlie took a deep breath, gave a silent prayer that this would work and spoke. "I Charles Lucas Jackson; Son of Perceus Jackson and Annabeth Chase call upon the Horai, the goddesses of time to grant us passage into the past."

A moment passed before wind came out of nowhere, rushing around us at top speed. Things fell over, objects crashed into the wall causing Lily and Emily to flinch. An abrupt light in the middle of their circle appeared and began expanding outward, moving slowly to cover the six of them. Just before it covered Charlie completely, he suddenly heard his father's voice shouting over the noise.

"You all can do it Charlie! I believe in you! Don't let your fear control you!" Percy Jackson screamed.

Charlie inhaled and yelled. "Dad!" as the light engulfed him completely, hiding the lone tear streaking across his cheek. He thought about what he and his cousins had to do. Go back in time and help their parents on their quest to defeat Gaea and somehow fix Tartarus from whatever the hell Gaea did to it and do it all without their parents finding out.

They were so dead.


	2. Charlie II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mission is already harder than they thought.

**(Charlie POV)**

Getting pulled into the past didn't hurt like everybody thought it would, it was the landing that sucked.

Tumbling head over heels across the ground, Charlie felt his left shoulder scream in protest as he roughly landed on it and came to a slow stop. Lifting his head warily, he looked around and saw his cousins in similar positions.

Zack and Emily had ended up slamming into each other and were now completely entangled in each other's limbs. Silena was upside down with her left wrist bent in a way that was in no way healthy. Lily was sprawled on her back, eagle spread and blinking up at the sky in confusion, probably wondering why she was on the ground. Ethan, the ninja that he was, was the only one who had landed on his feet and was up, looking around while the rest of them sorted themselves out.

Charlie groaned in pain as he got up. "Sense anything?"

"Nothing, which is weird." Ethan said, eyes flickering all over the place.

Charlie frowned in confusion and looked around and was surprised by what he saw. Trees, huge trees all around them with a small little river a few feet away from where they landed. Taking another look around them, his heart dropped as he realized where they were, Camp Half-Blood, more specifically the woods surrounding camp.

Apparently Silena recognized it as well since she asked. "Oh my gods, is this camp?"

The others quickly straightened themselves out to look around, mimicking Charlie's longing expression as they realized that, yes this was most definitely camp.

"What do we do? We can't exactly just walk into camp and say "Yeah we're from the future and that we're some of the campers' kids." We would get locked up for being crazy!" Lily said, looking slightly panicked.

Charlie ran his hands through his hair as he thought. "No, we can't but we can sneak around to the camps entrance and cut up our clothes and bags to make it look like we're just regular demigods stumbling into camp."

Ethan raised a skeptical eyebrow. "And what happens when they ask who our godly parents are? I highly doubt six gods are going to accept us when we claim to be their kids."

Charlie hadn't thought of that yet. How would they explain who their godly parents are?

Charlie himself looked like the perfect mix of an Athena child and Poseidon child with his tan skin and green eyes matched with his blonde hair and the shape of his face. Everyone always said he was the perfect mix of his parents, both in appearance and in personality. He had his mother's smarts and strategic prowess along with his father's sarcastic outlook and powers. However along with that he also had his father's fatal flaw, unwavering loyalty. His mother always said if anything would kill him; it would be because he was protecting his friends and family. She always said it with a fond smile though and would follow up by saying it was one of the best things about his dad and that she was so happy Charlie got it from him.

Thinking of his mom once again brought tears to his eyes, if they failed in their mission everyone they loved would die, however if they told their parents in this time who they are, they might not be born. This meant they would have to avoid their parents while still helping on their quest. Oh Boy.

Mentally shaking his head to rid it of the bad thoughts, Charlie said, "We'll figure it out when we get there; right now I want get out of here in case we missed a monster or something."

Once his cousins agreed, they began to start the longish trek to Thalia's pine tree. Charlie noticed Silena holding her wrist and grimacing, prompting him to ask, "Is it broken, Lena?"

"No, just sprained." She said with a wince.

Charlie turned to Zack and raised his voice a little, "Hey, Z, grab some ambrosia for Lena, please."

Zack nodded and began rummaging through his bag for it. Confident he would find it, Charlie turned back to Silena and gestured for her wrist. Once she gave it to him, he noticed that, just like she said, it was sprained not broken. However if she had landed on it any harder it surely would have broken.

As he told her that she was lucky it wasn't broken (as it was a bad looking mix of blue and purple), he wrapped her wrist while Zack gave her the ambrosia. Watching the discomfort fade from her features, Charlie gestured for everybody to start walking again. Fifteen minutes into their walk as everybody was quietly talking with each other, he heard a sudden growl to their right. Stopping in his tracks, Charlie whistled for everybody to stop. They stopped and listened closer and heard the growling that had stopped him.

Moving into a circle back to back with one another, the six of them tried to figure out which way it was coming from when they heard three more growls joining the first one. Swearing under their breathes, Silena, Ethan, Lily and Charlie pulled the younger two into the middle of their semi circle as the four monsters making the growling noise stepped into the light.

 _'Hellhounds, why was it always hellhounds?_ ' Charlie thought as he reached into his pocket, pulling out Riptide and uncapping it. Charlie was suddenly glad his father had given it to him for the quest.

Seeing in his peripherals the others pulling out their weapons as well, he lunged for his hellhound, trying to take it by surprise.

Charlie had to admit the hellhound was a little smart when it dodged his attack by a mile, leaping to the side and immediately going for him while he resituated himself. Charlie was no slouch though so when the hellish doggy lunged at him, he quickly sidestepped and snapped Riptide into a wide arc, catching the creature on the side of its flank. The hellhound growled menacingly at him and once again leapt for him, before it got very far however an arrow came from his left and hit its side. Using the distraction, he stepped forward and decapitated it.

Not bothering to watch it disintegrate into dust, Charlie turned back to his cousins, all of them looking fine, and did a quick head count.

Silena was cleaning off her twin daggers with her well loved cleaning rag, Ethan was putting his sword back on to his necklace in pendant form, Lily already having put her dagger back in its sheathe was talking to Zack who was pouting, no doubt about not getting to fight. Watching Emily put her bow back into its ring form; Charlie crossed his arms and gave her a look. Noticing his look, she gave him one of her own and stubbornly said, "I wanted to help."

Unwilling to rehash the same argument the two of them had a thousand times before; he walked over to her and ruffled her hair. "You're lucky that you're cute, munchkin, otherwise bad things would be happening right now." Charlie said, mockingly serious.

Grumbling, she ducked out from under his hand and said "Uh huh, sure they would."

He smiled at the response and turned to the others. "Now that _that's_ over with, let's get a move on, shall we?" Everyone snickered at them and began to move.

They didn't get very far however as they heard an amused voice call out to them. "Stop right where you are and put your hands on your head."

Freezing, they did as the voice said. Charlie panicked internally, trying to figure out where the distinctively female voice came from. She was good, he'd give her that, none of them sensed her or the friends he assumed she had.

"Blonde boy, step to your left." She called out to Charlie, the only blonde male in the group.

He felt his cousins tense around him and Ethan firmly say, "He's not going anywhere." A second later an arrow flew by Ethan's head and sank into a tree behind him.

"Step to your left, Blondie!" She yelled and Charlie immediately did as she said, not wanting his cousins to get hurt.

The more she talked though, the more he recognized the voice, even more so when she called him Blondie. As Charlie combed through his memories for which person it belonged to, she yelled down at them again

"Alright, the one called Lena step to your right." She ordered.

He stiffened more and wondered how long they had been watching them for as Silena did as she was told, making eye contact with him and mouthing _'_ Do you recognize her voice?'

He nodded slightly and mouthed back 'You do too? '

She gave him a small nod. Now he was stumped, who did the both of them know that used a bow and arrows, hung around in the woods of camp, and called him Blondie? The answer hit him suddenly like a lightning bolt. Thalia Grace, it had to be her, now that he figured it out he almost slapped himself with how stupid he had been to not recognize his own godmother's voice.

Looking back at Silena, who was staring at him expectantly, Charlie mouthed 'Auntie Thalia '. Immediately he saw her go through the same emotions he had went through when he realized it. _Now_ how were they going to get out of this situation without spilling their secret?

"What do you want?" Charlie asked, glancing around wearily.

She was silent for a few moments before replying. "I want to know what that light was and why you six tumbled out of it."

Charlie licked his suddenly dry lips and opened his mouth to speak but before he could, she continued "I also want to know what you meant by you guys being from the future."

Horrified, Charlie stayed there gaping like a fish, mind going a mile a minute trying to figure out how he would explain this to his future godmother in a plausible way. Before he could though, Lily piped up "We'll tell only if you put down your weapons and come out, all of you."

Charlie both mentally thanked the gods that Lily was ballsy enough to say that and depressed that she did say that as that just might get them shot.

Thankfully the huntress was feeling either merciful or curious, because she agreed and ordered the rest of the huntress to stand down. Coming out of the woods to their right, he wasn't surprised to see she looked exactly the same as she did in the future. Charlie had asked his mom once when he was six why Thalia never seemed to age and she had told him it was because Thalia had taken an oath when she became an Hunter of Artemis and with that oath came immortality.

As she stood directly in front of them he saw a curious yet distrustful look on her face and hoped she believed whatever came out of Lily's mouth. The rest of the hunters looked straight at the two of them as Thalia asked "Where's my explanation?"

"I said I'd explain when ALL of you came out. I know there are more of you in those woods." Lily smirked.

Thalia scowled and asked. "And how do you know that?"

"Because you came out of the woods from our right and the arrow one of your people shot at my cousin came from our left. There is no way you moved that fast without us hearing you, now that we knew you were there." said Lily, a touch smugly.

Charlie had to give it to her though, it was good reasoning. He only knew there were more people because he always assumed no one went anywhere without backup.

Apparently Thalia agreed, because she scowled more and gestured for her hunters to appear out of the woods. Immediately twenty to thirty girls of all ages came out of the woodwork. Shifting his stance, he vaguely wondered if they would be able to fight their way out. Going over the odds however and seeing the looks he was getting made him settle down and pay attention to Lily and Thalia, hoping they wouldn't get shot at.

Lily smiled disarmingly and said. "Thanks, now what was your question?"

Resisting the urge to groan in frustration, Charlie looked at the rest of his cousins, all of whom were staring at Lily in disbelief along with Thalia. Thalia shook her head. "Explain what you meant by you being from the future, now."

Looking at Lily, he could tell she was thinking hard about what to say. Hell _he_ was wondering what the best option was. Thinking it over though, telling her the truth couldn't hurt, on one hand she could deem them crazy and give them to Chiron _or_ she would believe them and help them on their quest.

Charlie spoke up first. "Lily, go ahead and tell her the truth."

"Shut it, boy!" A voice from the trees yelled.

Charlie ignored the hunter growling at him to be quiet and continued "All of it, Lily, go ahead."

Looking at him, she nodded and took a deep breath and began telling their story "We're from the future, specifically we're from the future where during this war we're in right now, Gaia caused major damage to Tartarus resulting in monsters never dying and Giants and Titans coming out of the woodwork to destroy the world." Taking another breath before anyone could stop her, she continued "Our parents sent us back to stop that from happening and to stop so many of the casualties that go along with this war."

Silence and quiet disbelief, that's all Charlie heard after Lily stopped talking, until Silena spoke up "It's all true, I promise, Aunt Thalia."

Thalia's head snapped around to look at Silena "Aunt Thalia, you just called me Aunt Thalia. Explain, now."

Silena nodded and said "My father is Jason Grace, your younger brother."

"That's not possible, there is no way you could be his daughter, you're like thirteen!" Thalia said franticly. "You don't even look like him! In fact you look like Pip-"Her eyes widened and she cut herself off.

"You were going to say I look like Piper McLean right?" Silena said dryly.

Thalia nodded and Silena smiled sweetly as she said. "I would hope so since she's my mother and all. Also I'm fourteen."

Thalia stepped closer to Silena shakily and stared at her, Silena looking back calmly, and whispered "You have his eyes."

"Technically, you had them first." Silena smiled as she replied back. 

Thalia laughed in surprise as she stepped back and looked at the rest of them "Any more nieces or nephews I need to know about?"

She said it jokingly but Charlie and the rest of his cousins raised their hands. She went slack-jawed and Ethan quickly jumped in to explain. "We're not biologically your nieces or nephews but we've been calling you Aunt Thalia since we could speak."

Nodding in understanding, she took a deep breath and released it. "So who are the rest of your guys' parents?" She asked, and after seeing them exchange looks, continued "I promise I won't tell and neither will my hunters."

Ethan spoke up first. "I don't know who my biological parents are, but my adoptive moms name is Reyna and I'm thirteen."

Nodding at him, she then turned to Zack with an expectant look. Catching the look, he quickly said "I'm also thirteen and my parents are Nico di Angelo and Will Solace." Seeing the surprised look, he shrugged and asked "What did you expect?"

She quickly shot back with, "Anything but that."

Turning away from Zack, (lest she get sucked into knowing something she might not want to know) she pointing at Lily and gestured for her to go. "My parents are Leo Valdez and Calypso and I'm thirteen." Lily said, grinning mischievously.

Charlie heard Thalia mutter "I knew Leo had to be her dad but who the hell is Calypso?" to herself.

Preemptively stopping Lily from answering her, Emily stepped up next. "My parents are Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque, I'm twelve." Seeing Thalia's confusion at the names she added, "You'll meet them later."

she nodded and finally turned to Charlie with an expectant look on her face. "Go, Blondie,"

He sighed. "My name is Charlie and my parents are Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase and I'm fourteen." Expecting the shocked look, Charlie said "Yes, I am telling the truth."

Thalia squinted at him and made a 'huh' sound. "I don't know how I didn't see it before; you're like the perfect mix of Barnacle Breath and Annie."

Charlie laughed at the nicknames and said. "Yeah, I get that a lot."

Thalia smirked. "Come on kiddos, Aunt Thalia is going to take you to camp to meet your teenage parents."

She gleefully turned and told her hunters to start going to camp while the six of them exchanged reluctant looks before following along. He had a bad feeling about this.


	3. Charlie III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They get 'sorted' into their cabins and also run into Annabeth.

**(Charlie POV)**

Walking into camp was like walking into your own house after a long day. Comforting and bringing a sense of peace of mind. Knowing his cousins felt the same way as him; Charlie turned and gave them a bright smile, identical ones already on their faces.

"Alright, let's go to Chiron and tell him about you guys and what you're doing here." Thalia said, taking charge. They nodded and followed their aunt, walking down the hill they were on next to Thalia's pine tree.

They didn't get very far from the end of the hill before a voice called out. "Hey Thalia, who are these guys?"

Turning towards who spoke, Charlie's heart leapt to his throat as he realized it was his mother, the younger version anyway. Charlie turned to look at Thalia and hoped she said what he told her to say when anybody asked about the six of them. As much as he loved his Aunt, she had a bad habit of ignoring what people told her to do if she thought what she wanted to say was better.

Thalia grinned at Annabeth. "Found some fresh meat for you guys on the way over here. What do ya think?" She gestured at the six of them. Moving slightly so that she could look at all of them, they stood at attention. Feeling his mom stare at them and mentally weigh their physique, Charlie shifted uncomfortably under it, not used to his mom looking at him and not realizing who he was.

Thalia, noticing how uncomfortable they were, spoke up. "Well I'm going take them to Chiron so if you want to meet me at the pavilion Annabeth, we can catch up." she offered up to Annabeth.

Annabeth nodded. "Alright, ten minutes, if you're not there I'll come find you. Chiron's at the Big House by the way." Giving one more glance at them, she turned and started walking to the pavilion.

Charlie let out the breath he was holding and turned back to the others. "That was weird." Lily said with a slightly hurt look on her face.

Silena put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Yeah it was, I didn't think it would hurt so much, them not knowing who we are. How are you doing, Charlie?"

"I don't know, right now though I don't have the time to sort it out, we need to go to Chiron and explain who we are and why we're here." He said, forcing any emotions he felt towards what just happened with his mom into a box to sort out later.

Silena gave him a look that said they'd be talking about this later. "Alright, then let's go."

They solemnly began to walk to the Big House where Chiron was according to Annabeth and lo and behold there he was, playing poker on the porch with a couple campers. Stepping on to the porch with Charlie and his cousins trailing behind her, Thalia impatiently said, "Chiron we need to talk, now."

He gave their group a curious look. "I assume it has something to do with the unfamiliar faces standing behind you?"

Thalia nodded. "This is one of those conversations we need to have inside that _no one_ can overhear."

Chiron turned serious and stood from his wheelchair; his body from his waist down emerging as a horse's lower half. "Then come inside, young heroes, and explain your story."

* * *

Watching Chiron's face go through a series of emotions while Ethan explained who they were and why they were here, Charlie could tell he needed only one little push to believe all of it. Charlie stood up from his leaning position against the wall. "You don't believe us yet but you will after this."

Looking at a glass of water that was on his desk, Charlie moved his hand upwards, the water in the glass following his hands moment. Beginning to play with the water, he started creating shapes with it, seeing in his peripherals Lily light her finger tips on fire and start writing in the air random numbers and letters. Seeing Chiron's shocked face as the two of them played with their elements, Charlie put the water back in the glass and gestured at Lily to snuff out the flames on her fingers.

Turning back to the centaur in the room, Charlie asked in an amused tone. "Believe us now?"

He snapped out of his shock. "Yes I think I do. You are all from the future? And you're all the children of the Seven you say?" Chiron asked with a frown.

Charlie gave a nod. "Yes we are, except for Ethan and Zack whose parents are people who helped on the quest but weren't involved with the prophecy."

"Ethan's mother is a young woman named Reyna who is one of the Praetors at the Roman camp you say correct?" They all nodded. "And Zack is the child of Mr. di Angelo and Mr. Solace you say?" They all nodded once again. Chiron looked surprised. "That is a combination I did not expect."

Zack grinned manically and cheerfully said, "According to Uncle Percy, no one did."

Chiron suddenly turned grim at the mention of Charlie's dad. "Speaking of Mr. Jackson, you know where he is don't you? Will you tell me where he is?"

Charlie exchanged looks with Ethan and Silena. "Yes we know where he is but no we won't tell you where."

"And why not?" Chiron asked with an annoyed look.

"Because if I do you'll gather people for a 'rescue' mission and screw with history. What my dad is going through right now _needs_ to happen otherwise specific events won't happen and we'll _all_ be screwed." Charlie answered firmly.

The centaur sighed in defeat. "Alright one more question. What he's going through right now, will he be hurt?"

"He gets a little beat as he always does but nothing serious." Charlie said with a shrug.

"Good, then let's get you all sorted out. Which cabins would you all like to stay in?" Chiron asked.

"Silena in Aphrodite cabin, Ethan in the Ares cabin along with Emily, Lily in Hephaestus, Zack in the Apollo cabin, and I'll go to the Athena cabin." Charlie easily answered.

Chiron nodded. "I will tell everyone during lunch. Now I believe you should all go settle in your new cabins while I talk with your Aunt."

* * *

Murmuring in agreement, they all began to file out of the room.

Standing in front of the Big House, Silena said. "We should all meet at Zeus's Fist in twenty minutes to start making a game plan, until then though we stick to only telling people the bare minimum."

Ethan nodded. "Right, we all met on the road after monsters attacked our families and we've been together ever since, Thalia found us two days ago running in the woods away from monsters and took us here. We figured out that the gods were real from what are parents and what we got from each other and our godly parents claimed us on the road."

"Exactly and we also cannot tell our parents _anything_ until they know us better and will be more inclined to believe it. Got it?" Charlie said, getting nods from the rest. "Then it's just like Lena said. Unpack, get settled and we'll all meet at Zeus's Fist in twenty minutes."

They all agreed and dispersed to go to their respective cabins.

As he walked toward the Athena cabin Charlie was hit with a sense of nostalgia, remembering all times he walked this path with his parents to visit his aunts and uncles. Forcing back the rush of emotions he was feeling, Charlie stepped into the cabin and was immediately accosted by Malcolm, one of his uncles and his mom's second in command.

"Are you one of the new kids that came today?" he asked. Charlie nodded and his uncle smiled. "Cool, I'm Malcolm and I'll show you to your bunk and give you the tour around camp."

Charlie shook his head as they walked toward the bunk that would be his. "Thanks for the offer but Thalia already gave us a quick tour after she took us to Chiron and my name is Charlie" He lied, not wanting to explain why he was really saying no.

Malcolm nodded his head. "Alright, Charlie, then I guess if you have any questions you can ask me or Annabeth who you'll meet later, she's our cabin counselor."

Charlie nodded and continued to look around the cabin, noting that the cabin didn't really change a lot in the next seventeen years.

"Well I hate to cut and run but we have archery practice in five minutes, you're welcome to join us if you want but you don't have to if you don't want to since this is your first day and all." He said, looking slightly uncomfortable.

Charlie gave a thumbs up. "I think I'm going to stay here and get settled some more before lunch." Subtly letting him know Charlie would be fine as he start to open up his bag to begin unpacking.

Malcolm had a look of relief as he nodded. "Alright I'll see you at lunch then."

"See you then." Charlie said back and watched him and the rest of his mom's siblings walk out the door to the archery range. He mentally shook his head, in a weird head space from seeing and talking to all these people who should know who he was treat him like a perfect stranger.

Charlie honestly didn't know how his cousins and he were going to get through this, but he did know one thing. It was going to be the weirdest quest they would ever go on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never noticed how terrible a writer I was at 14 until now. My GOD, IT HURTS TO READ. I had to edit this so much, it's not even funny. So, sooooooo cringy. Thank the universe I got better at this otherwise it'd also hurt for you guys to read this. Thanks for reading! I promise this story gets better the further we get into this!


	4. Silena I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Filler chapter basically, but there are some cute moments.

**(Silena POV)**

Drew Tanaka was just as irritating in the past as she is in the future. She droned on and on about her clothes and about how to become a proper daughter of Aphrodite, she had to break somebody's heart. Silena was ready to scream and commit murder when her perfectly timed mother stepped in and said, "Drew that's enough, I know I told you that the Aphrodite cabin was going to change. That includes the breaking somebody's heart rule. Got it?" She gave Drew the iciest look Silena had ever seen.

Drew scowled and said through gritted teeth. "Got it."

Silena laughed under her breath and enjoyed the furious look she got in return from Drew. As she stomped her way out of the cabin Silena heard her muttering curses under her breath toward Piper and Silena causing the brunette to smile brightly and make a mental note to grab Lily and Zack to plan a prank on her. After all, there was nothing wrong with a little hazing between family members right?

Silena turned to her mother and cheerfully said. "Thanks, I was about to have to hide her body if she kept talking, and that's definitely not how I wanted to start off my time at camp."

Piper laughed. "Don't worry about it, she gets on everybody's nerves. I'm Piper, cabin ten's counselor. What's your name?"

Silena gave a smile. "Nice to meet you Piper, my name's Silena Amber but you can call me Lena, everybody does." She used her middle name as a substitute for her last name.

Piper looked intrigued as she said, "Huh, that was the previous cabin counselors' name. Silena Beauregard."

Silena froze as her mind raced and she mentally slapped herself for not remembering that she was named after her. Gods, how stupid could she be? "Really? I didn't know that, do you know where she is?" Silena hoped that her question would derail her mom from thinking about how suspicious it was for the new girl to have her dead supposed sister's name.

Piper's smile faded. "She died a few years ago, before I came to camp. I actually only came to camp a few months ago myself along with Jason, a son of Zeus and Leo, a son of Hephaestus and counselor of cabin nine."

Silena nodded. "How did you become the cabin counselor if you've only been here a few months?"

At that, Piper gave a faint smirk. "Drew gave it to me since it was either that or defeat me in combat and since I had just gotten back from a harrowing quest she really didn't want to fight me."

Silena laughed in fake surprise but with very real approval. "I would've paid good money to see that! That would've been awesome!"

"It would've been, wouldn't it?" Piper asked rhetorically, smiling to herself.

"So what's this about a quest I hear? What happened there?" Silena asked as she sat on her new bunk.

"It's kind of a long story and you barely know me." Piper said hesitantly.

Silena gave a gentle smile and said. "What better way is there to get to know someone than to hear their story? Besides I don't have anywhere to be, do you?" So Silena lied a little but the others would understand. It was her mom; they would do the same thing if they were in her position right? Right.

* * *

Five minutes late to her meeting with the others, Silena couldn't find it in herself to feel more than a little guilty seeing as how she had spent the last twenty minutes talking with her mother. Hell, she had even introduced herself to her dad when he came over to talk to her mom.

That was a little weird seeing as how Silena had forced him to play dress up and have tea parties with her when she was little, and he barely knows her name right now. It hurt to be completely honest, looking into her parents faces and not seeing the love and fondness she'd seen her entire life. Silena could only imagine what the younger two were going through, still being in that stage of childhood where your parents were the only ones you wanted to hold and hang out with.

Silena sighed at her depressing thoughts and finally walked into the clearing where Zeus's Fist was and was surprised when she only saw Emily, Ethan, and Charlie there. They looked up as she stepped towards them and waved her over, calling out various greetings as Silena came to a stop right beside them. "Where are Lily and Zack?" she asked. She should have been the last one there.

Charlie shrugged. "I spotted Lily in the forge hanging out with her dad and Ethan said he saw Zack in the infirmary bugging Uncle Will."

Ethan nodded his head, confirming it. "He had that look in his eyes, that one he always gets before he annoys someone to the point of hitting him." Silena sighed again, this time in defeat, as she made a mental note that she was probably going to have to doctor her terror of a cousin when he came to the meeting.

"We should probably start the meeting and just fill them in when they get here, shouldn't we?" Silena asked Charlie, an undertone of amusement in her voice.

"Probably." He agreed, sharing her amusement.

A sudden voice from their left had them turning to look at them.

"No need, I grabbed the terror before he could get punched by Clarisse who was in the infirmary for some reason," Lily said as she cheerfully dragging a pouting Zack by the arm over to them.

Ethan shook his head and said in a defeated tone, "Why in the name of the gods would you want to annoy Clarisse?"

Zack shook his arm away from Lily's grip and shrugged his shoulders. "I wasn't trying to annoy her, I was trying to annoy my dad. She just happened to be in the room while I did it."

Silena stared at him in disbelief. "This is why the Ares cabin hates you, you know that right?"

Zack gave a maniacal grin. "What do I care? It's not like they'll ever catch me." He fell backwards into a shadow and popped back up behind Ethan, trying and failing to scare him. He only succeeded in getting Ethan to put him in a headlock with Ethan rhetorically asking. "You got into the chocolate didn't you, you Terror?" Ethan kept him the headlock for the time being while Zack half heartedly tried to get out of it.

Charlie cleared his throat, giving the two boys a look that was half amused and half exasperated. "Now that everybody is actually here, can we get started please?" He glared a little at Lily, Zack, and Silena; the three of them immediately putting on innocent looks that made it seem like butter wouldn't melt in their mouths with Zack still in his headlock, resulting in Charlie glaring harder at them before continuing.

"We need to start coming up with a plan and start compiling a list of who we should tell and when. As well as start figuring out how we're going to bully our way into this quest since we're not exactly part of the prophecy." Charlie said, pushing himself up to sit up on one of the smaller pieces of Zeus's fist.

Finally letting Zack up from his hold on him, Ethan spoke up. "I think we should tell our parents in a few weeks after they get to know us a little better so that it's not so far out of left field that they'll out right dismiss us."

"I agree with Ethan, we definitely need to tell our parents otherwise I don't think we can really find another reason to be on this quest." Silena said, backing Ethan up.

Charlie nodded and turned to the other three. "What do you guys think? Do you agree?" They exchanged looks for a quick second before they all turned back to Charlie and nodded their heads. Charlie let out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. "Alright then with that settled, we need to figure out how and when we're going to tell them since it needs to be _before_ Uncle Leo and the rest of cabin nine finishes the Argo ll."

"The week before maybe? That way they have time to digest the information and come to terms with it before we get on a boat for like two months." Emily suggested. She looked slightly tired from the day they'd had despite the fact they'd woken up only six hours ago. Then again thinking of all the things that had gone in those six hours made Silena feel tired so she could only imagine how the baby of their group was feeling.

Charlie contemplated her suggestion for a second and nodded. "Sounds like a good idea squirt, let's do it." He said, smiling when Emily gave him an outraged look for calling her squirt, the rest of them giggling at the exchange. Hearing the horn go off for lunch time, they all looked at each other and nodded.

It was time to face Camp Half- Blood as total strangers to their friends and family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm doing all of this from 4am to 7am on no sleep and I regret my decisions. Fuck this quarantine, it's screwing with my sleep schedule.


	5. Silena II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> CAPTURE THE FLAG!

**(Silena POV)**

Lunch was an interesting affair, Chiron announcing who they are and what cabins they belong to, everybody staring at them when they figured out the six of them knew each other and came to camp together. Silena , uncomfortable with the curious looks, glared at anyone she caught staring. Feeling cheered up by the fact that she could still terrify people with only her glare; Silena turned back toward her food and started eating.

Piper muffled her laughter. "Wow I haven't seen a glare like that since someone mentioned how Percy might not come back around Annabeth. She glared at him so hard the dude had a nervous breakdown."

"That sounds like her." Silena said snickering. Piper looked slightly confused. "How do you know that? I don't think you've met Annabeth yet."

Silena floundered for second before remembering that Charlie was in the Athena cabin "My friend Charlie, he's one of the demigods I came to camp with, he's in the Athena cabin and told me about her. According to him she sounds like a hard ass." Thank the gods she could think on her feet.

"She's actually not that bad, she's just…she's just heartbroken right now." Piper said with sympathetic glance at towards the blonde. Silena nodded. "You guys are going to get him though, right? From the Roman camp?"

Piper confirmed it. "Yup Jason, Annabeth, Leo, and I are going to pick him in three weeks from the Roman camp and start the quest to take down Gaia."

Silena noticed her slightly distressed expression at the mention of the quest and sarcastically asked. "What, are you not excited to go on a terrifying and dangerous quest with danger around every corner?"

She laughed in surprise. "No, no I'm not. I mean I'm okay with the reason for going on the quest and all, we're saving the world, but going on death defying adventures and fighting monsters and giants and primordial goddesses, it's all just a little too much to deal with sometimes when I think about what we're ACTUALLY going to do."

Silena winced in sympathy for her mother; she understood what she was talking about. The months leading up to their jump to the past, she was a wreck, thinking about all the trouble they could get into and all the problems they could potentially create. Silena remembered she had caused herself to get sick worrying about it, but she also remembered something Charlie told her when he had found her curled up in a ball on her bed after being sick.

He had said 'Lena there is absolutely no point in worrying yourself sick over this, there is a reason it's not just one of us going to the past. All six of us are going so that we can keep each other in check and protect one another; we've been training for this for the last year so that we won't screw this up, just trust in that okay?'. Silena remembered that the next day he had grabbed the rest of their cousins along with their parents and called a three hour meeting to outline the entire plan so that everyone was on the same page, and just like that her worry went away when she realized she trusted in her family and the plan that they made.

Silena came back from her daydream and realized that Piper was waiting for her response "I think that there is a reason that the prophecy said seven people are going instead of just three like normal quests. I think that reason is so that you have a bigger support system when facing all those things you mentioned. Things always seem scarier when you're facing them alone but when you have family standing right beside you, I think you can do anything."

Looking at her mom somewhat bashfully after her mini rant, Silena saw that she along with most of the Aphrodite kids at their end were staring at her in shock, with a little bit of pride in her mom's eyes. Clearing her throat and feeling a little embarrassed, Silena finished the rest of her lunch and stood up, speed walking out of the pavilion. Feeling a presence behind her, Silena looked back and saw Charlie walking behind her along with Lily. She slowed down and allowed them to catch up to her.

"So what's with the sudden exit? Someone say something you didn't like?" Charlie teased gently but Silena could see the protective look in his eyes. He was fully prepared to march right back into the pavilion and raise hell with the person who had made her walk out.

Silena smiled. "No, I just embarrassed myself by ranting about the power of family and gave a friendship is magic speech."

Lily frowned. "How is that embarrassing? Our parents and Charlie do it all the time."

Charlie gave her a look. "I do not do it _all_ the time!"

"What don't you do all the time?" Emily asked popping out of nowhere, Zack right beside her, scaring the hell out of the three of them.

"DON'T DO THAT!" The three of them yelled, clutching their chests where their hearts were.

Lily hopped into Charlie's arms, forcing him to carry her bridal style lest he drop her. Ethan, who Silena noticed walking up to them started laughing at the three of them for being startled by the terror twins, him being the only one in the whole family, parents included, to remain unpranked by them. Not for lack of trying on their part however, the two of them had been trying to get him for years. Ethan apparently had a sixth sense for when a prank was aimed at him though and always managed to dodge or dismantle the prank before it could hit him.

Back in reality, the two terrors simply laughed evilly and repeated Emily's question, this time in unison.

Silena shuddered at how creepy the two of them were together at times. "Charlie claims that he doesn't make inspirational speeches about the power of family all time." Ethan and the terror twins stared at Charlie for a minute until he finally blew up.

"WHAT! I don't do it all the all time guys….right?" he trailed off a little as he looked at their expressions, dropping Lily to her feet.

Immediately Ethan and Zack shook their heads and denied it. Emily however just said. "Yeah you do, like _all_ the time whenever you think there's even a remote chance someone needs one."

Charlie gave an impressive scowl and grumbled "Keep quiet midget, your opinion doesn't matter to me this time."

"Quit calling me that Fish Boy!" Emily yelled with a glare.

"Grow another foot and I'll stop calling you that, Shortstack!" Charlie snipped back.

At this point the rest of them were cracking up as the two insulted each other, there was just something about seeing Emily, a five foot two twelve year old argue with her almost six foot older cousin about height issues, it was hilarious. The two of them noticed the other four laughing their asses off and exchanged glances, apparently deciding to up the shenanigans. The two proceeded to pout and cross their arms in unison. "What's so funny?" they whined together. The rest of them were sent into hysterics as Charlie and Emily continued with the hilarity.

Stomach hurting from laughing so hard, Silena stood up straight and noticed Zack on the ground giggling breathlessly, Lily was grinning stupidly and Ethan was shaking his head in amusement. Emily and Charlie were ignoring them all as they poked at each other and snickered as well as continuing to insult each other in creative ways. Hearing someone clear their throats behind them, they all quickly sobered up as they turned toward the new person or persons. Seeing it was Silena and Charlie's moms with Lily, Zack and Silena's dads, they somewhat relaxed and called out various greetings. Annabeth looked at them with clear amusement. "What are you guys doing?"

Charlie grinned mischievously. "We're just goofing off."

The parents chuckled and this time Piper spoke up "Well we came out here to grab you all for capture the flag in half an hour."

Immediately Silena and her cousins perked up, they loved Capture the Flag. Whenever there was the rare time all of them were on the same team they dominated the game and alternatively when they were on separate teams they tried their best to outdo one another. It usually ended up being a stalemate between the six of them while their teams duked it out themselves.

"What are the teams!" Ethan asked eagerly. Jason looked surprised at how excited they all looked. "It's the Hunters of Artemis vs. Camp Half-Blood. The six of them grinned at each other and exchanged glances, already planning how they were going to win. They were going to dominate this game.

* * *

High up in a tree guarding the flag with Lily and Zack, Silena had to admit that she had missed this. The anticipation of a fight along with the determination to do the mission that had been laid out for you, she had a stupid grin on her face and Silena knew it wasn't going to disappear for a _long_ while.

She turned a little in her position in the tree and spotted Zack loitering around the flag playing bait like they'd planned with Lily in a tree to her left, prepared to swoop down with Silena when the attackers came for their flag. Their flag itself was in a small clearing surrounded by rocks, stuck in a hole they had found that did a brilliant job of hiding it in plain sight. Zack was about five feet from it, appearing like he was lost in the clouds bored out of his mind.

Silena was getting a little bored for real though; it had been an hour and half since the game started after all and no one had come over to the flag yet, they hadn't even seen their own teammates near here. She glanced around the area wondering when they were going to get some action when Lily abruptly called out. "Charlie, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be getting the flag with Ethan and Emily!"

Silena and Lily both jumped down from their spots in the trees, Silena seeing Zack perking up, abandoning his bored façade and walking over to Charlie as well. Coming to a stop in front of him with the other two they waited for him to speak. Catching their looks and fading patience, he started explaining.

"Ethan and Emily are working with the Athena and Ares cabins to take one last run at the flag, they crushed us in the beginning but we started gaining traction about forty five minutes ago. But defense for you guys has taken a beating so I was sent back to help you guard the flag while our team grabs theirs."

They nodded and began to go back to their previous positions, Charlie going to find a hiding place near the rocks and promptly disappearing. Shaking her head at his ability to vanish better than Zack at times, Silena started the climb back to her spot, sitting lower on the tree this time. As soon as her ass settled on the branch she picked as her spot, an arrow came out of nowhere and hit maybe two inches from where her ear was.

Silena swore loudly and flipped out of the tree, landing on her feet with her daggers already pulled out. She glanced around and saw Zack pulling his sword from the ground subtly and Lily tumbling out of her tree, her dagger pulled out as well.

Her alleged attacker came out of the woods and Silena readied herself to get her ass kicked. It was Phoebe because that's just her luck, after all she had nothing on Phoebe in the way of skills. The only way she would be able to defeat her would be if she had help and Lily, Zack and Charlie had their hands full with the other hunters.

Silena took a deep breath and let it out, hoped Phoebe would be slightly merciful and charged her. Apparently Thalia had told her about their parents escapades because she didn't look surprised at Silena's sudden lunge toward her. Paring her strike, Phoebe started to attack her, forcing Silena to go on the defensive or else she'd get stabbed. Chancing a look at her cousins, Silena saw Lily and Zack were back to back against three hunters of their own and doing moderately well while Charlie was near the flag going after two other hunters easily, the only reason he hadn't beaten them yet being that he was busy checking on Silena and the other two.

Silena caught his eye as she ducked under Phoebe's sword and they exchanged a quick smile before returning to their respective battles. As she focused her complete attention on her fight, Silena noticed that she had gotten a few small cuts from the hunters' sword. Frowning, she put more effort into dodging, hoping that her team would get the flag over the line soon before she got her ass kicked.

Silena huffed as she jumped over one Phoebe's swings, scrambling to find a way to beat her; it was almost impossible going through it in her head. She was like a thousand years old, had a ton more skill than Silena did and knew how to take any opponent down. Silena ducked close to her and slashed her dagger only to be surprised when she managed to slice her arm a little bit. Apparently, she was just as surprised as Silena since she quickly jumped away from her and looked at Silena in shock.

Phoebe narrowed her eyes. "How did you do that?"

She didn't have answer for her; _Silena_ was wondering how Silena did that! Silena had never been able to get a hit on _any_ Hunters of Artemis before when they were training her and her cousins to go to the past, she had started getting close but they had left before she could.

Silena shook her head and threw on a false bravado. "Why? You scared of little old me?"

Phoebe glared and tightened her grip on her sword. "I am most definitely not scared of you, little girl." She growled, charging at Silena and putting more power in her swings.

Cursing for the third time in a row, Silena wondered how this was her life. The clang of their weapons hitting each other made her focus back on their fight and stop thinking about stuff she would probably need to talk about in therapy someday. The two continued their fight with Phoebe sending furious swings Silena's way and Silena desperately ducking, jumping, and rolling out of the way so that her head stayed attached to her body, until she stepped on loose rock and came crashing into the ground painfully on her back.

Phoebe smirked and pointed her sword at the middle of Silena's chest, digging the tip into the skin there. Silena winced slightly and kept her body still, hoping she hadn't made Phoebe too mad.

"So do you giv-" Phoebe was cut off with a whoosh of water slamming into her at high speed, sending her head over heels into a rock conveniently placed beside them.  
Cringing at the sound of her head hitting the rock, Silena climbed to her feet and saw Charlie two feet away from her, hand outstretched with a pissed look on his face. He schooled his expression and turned to her, arching an eyebrow inquisitively at Silena.

She rolled her eyes and answered his unspoken question. "I'm fine, barely a few scratches, I promise."

He nodded and turned away to walk towards the others to go question them about their heath as well. Leaving him to his mother hen tendencies, Silena looked over Phoebe, noting the wicked bump on her and concluded that she probably had a small concussion and some bruised ribs but was otherwise okay. Just as she went to start tying her up, the horn that signaled the end of the game went off. Looking over at their flag, Silena noted that it was still there which meant that their team had won the game. She heard Zack and Lily cheer, high fiving and hugging each other in celebration.

Silena turned her gaze over to Charlie and said. "I've got five on it being Ethan who got it over the line."

He shook his head with a smirk. "I accept, seeing as it was totally Emily who did it.

They laughed and began gathering up the huntresses who had been knocked out, Phoebe and the two hunters Charlie had been fighting, while leading the other three out of the woods; all of them with shocked looks on their faces at the fact that the four cousins had beaten them, both in battle and at the game.

Fifteen minutes later they appeared out of the woods near the pavilion and started walking over there, noticing most of the camp was already there and stopped at the medical tent that the Apollo had set up getting shocked looks as they dumped the unconscious hunters on the beds and walked back out, leaving the campers in there doing their best impression of goldfish.

Ambling over to the Ares table, the four of them were amused to note that Ethan and Emily were being hailed as heroes for getting the flag over the line while the three hunters that were still with them made a B-line towards their table. As the four of them shoved their way over and sat next to them Annabeth spoke up with a suspicious look in her eyes. "So you four, how was guarding the flag?"

Charlie cleared his throat, a nervous tick he had that reared its head when he was about to lie. "It was lucky timing these guys had," he jabbed his thumb to the side at Ethan and Emily "or we would have been toast."

Annabeth hummed in her 'something is fishy about you and I WILL find out what it is' way that scared the crap out of them when they were kids. Charlie just flashed a toothy grin that he had gotten from his dad at her causing Annabeth to look slightly startled.

Silena panicked and was about to speak up when Lily beat her to it. "So how _did_ you guys get the flag and does it have anything to do with why the hunters are pouting over there?" Lily said, gesturing to the table the hunters were at looking very disgruntled at their streak being broken.

As everybody clamored to the story, Silena looked at her Godmother, wondering how suspicious she was of them and whether she would wait and speak up in private or screw them over in public, personally Silena hoped it was the former instead of the latter.

Otherwise they were going to have a _lot_ of explaining to do.


	6. Charlie IV

**(Charlie POV)**

Some days he hated the fact that his mother was as smart as she was since it always got him in trouble. His dad claimed it was one of the things he loved most about her but Charlie was very much on the fence about it.

During Capture the Flag when they were defending it and Charlie had blasted Phoebe with water he hadn't even thought about what he was doing. Charlie just saw Silena with a sword pointed at her and reacted. He didn't think about anyone seeing him do it since all the hunters knew who they were. He should've because when he turned his head to check on Lily and Zack, his heart dropped to his feet. Charlie had caught a flash of blonde hair and furious grey eyes and immediately knew they were screwed.

Charlie subtly watched his mother eat dinner and wondered when she was going to come over to him and confront them about what she saw. After all it's not exactly normal for an alleged son of Athena to be throwing around water all willy-nilly like. Charlie had thought she would pull him aside after the post game meeting/celebration ended but she just disappeared, taking Thalia with her, to what Charlie assumed was an interrogation that was unsuccessful when they appeared two hours later; Annabeth with an angry and disgruntled look on her face while Thalia had adopted an anxious one.

He sighed in defeat. On one hand Charlie could leave it alone and let her come to him or he could man up, go over there and see if she would let him explain before doing anything drastic. Charlie groaned but stood up and walked over to Annabeth, clearing his throat. "Excuse me but could I have a word with you? Alone?"

Annabeth turned to look at him and scrutinized him for a few seconds causing Charlie to shuffle his feet, feeling uncomfortable. She deliberated for a few seconds before nodding and standing up. "Follow me." she ordered.

Charlie began walking after her and noticed Silena trying to catch his eye. She gave him a look that said ' _Are you telling her?_ ' and he gave her one back. ' _Yep, make sure the brats don't interrupt._ ' Silena gave a small nod and gestured to Ethan a few tables away, meaning that she would get him to tag team them with her. Charlie nodded and turned back to his mother, looking at her back as he followed her. He was reassured that the two of them would be able to control their less responsible cousins.

Realizing that Annabeth was taking the two of them to the Poseidon cabin to have their 'Chat' made him nervous. It also however gave him hope that his mom was on the right track of figuring out who he really was, not that he expected her to figure it out seeing as the actual answer to who Charlie is was an insane conclusion to come to. Seeing that while he was stressing in his mind they had come to stand in front of the Poseidon cabin, Charlie let out a breath walked to the door and pushed it open, the cabin feeling that he had the blood of Poseidon in him and welcoming him.

Charlie turned in the doorway and gestured to his mother, who was standing there in shock. "Are you coming in or what?"

* * *

Charlie stared at his mom as she stared back at him, the both of them sitting on Percy's bunk waiting for the other to talk. Charlie remembered why his dad always complained that the two of them were so alike and that he must have pissed someone off for having to deal with it. Of course he would always ruffle Charlie's hair and kiss Annabeth on the cheek so they both knew he was kidding.

"Well, are you going to explain or not?" His mom finally huffed. 

He swallowed and nodded, biting the inside of his lip."Do you want to ask questions and I answer or do you want me to just tell the story?"

Tilting her head, she studied him for a few seconds. "Tell the story I'll ask questions after."

Charlie took a deep breath and began. "This is a long story so please don't interrupt." She nodded and motioned for him to continue. "When the Seven go on the quest, on the tail end of it Gaia did something to Tartarus we don't know what but it caused monsters to never dissolve and Giants and Titans to come back. Even Chronos came back, luckily da" Charlie cut himself off, getting a look from Annabeth. "Percy managed to defeat him again with help from the rest of the Seven. I don't know how he did it no one ever told me but all I remember was them coming back looking utterly exhausted and beat-up."

Taking another deep breath he continued. "Now after the war ended no one knew that the Giants and Titans were coming back, everyone just assumed that monsters regeneration almost instantly was just the aftermath of the war, no one realized that the war was still going on and that the only thing we did was cutoff the head, Gaia had already accomplished her mission of destroying the world it was just going to take longer than she had anticipated."

"The moment everyone realized that the war was still going on was when Camp Jupiter was destroyed. According to reports I read a couple of Giants and Titans teamed up and destroyed it, the reports also said only about a third of Camp Jupiter made it out with they're lives. I was seven when this happened and the only thing I remember from that day was Nico shadowtraveling to and from Camp coming back with the most injured people he could find and taking them to the Apollo cabin. The less injured ones and anybody who could showed up hours later by Pegasus, the Iris cabin having gone to help them, telling everybody who would listen about what happened."

"It took us a year and a half to get everybody settled, to build new cabins and shore our defenses up. Over the years we learned to never venture out of camp, that got you killed, and that there was no way to kill monsters anymore they just instantly regenerated. Almost six years after Camp Jupiter was destroyed the gods found a way to save us; six of us would go back in time and fix whatever Gaia did to Tartarus before it became permanent. I was thirteen when I was told I would be one of those six. The others were Silena, Emily, Lily, Zack, and Ethan and the reason that only the six of us were going was because there was no chance of us running into or past selves seeing as we weren't even thought of yet so there was no chance for any paradoxes to come about. We trained for fifteen months before the Giants finally broke through our wards causing us to do the spell early, resulting in us appearing out of nowhere today." Ending his tale, Charlie could see the absolute shock on her face as she absorbed what he told her.

She shook her head in disbelief. "Why in the name of the gods should I believe anything you just told me?"

Charlie gathered his courage. "Because I'm your and Percy's son, and because why the _hell_ would I lie to you about this?"

"This is crazy, you're crazy, I mean time travel? That's insane Charlie!" Annabeth scoffed.

"Please believe me, please I promise I'm telling the truth! Mom, please believe me." Charlie begged, his heart hurting. He hadn't even realized he said the word mom until she stared at him in shock once again. The two of them stared at each other for a few minutes, Charlie trying not to cry and Annabeth wondering if she should believe him.

Annabeth gained a determined look. "I believe you, I don't know why but I believe you."

That caused him to burst into tears, the emotions of the past ten minutes catching up with him. Looking for comfort, Charlie pitched himself into her arms, feeling her hesitate for a second before wrapping him up in a strong hug. She started caressing his hair and murmuring sweet nothings. Charlie sobbed harder, thankful she believed him. As he sat there in his mother's arms, soaking in her presence, he wondered how they were going to tell the other parents and if it would be this stressful for his cousins too.

Charlie knew the answer to that already though; the entirety of the family was going to need therapy after all was said and done. It was good thing they all had each other as this was going to be the most confusing, heart wrenching months their family would ever have.

* * *

**(Two Weeks Later)**

Spending time with his seventeen year old mother was both amazing and disturbing. Amazing because he was admittedly a mama's boy and he had missed her, but disturbing because well, she's seventeen. It was weird!

Still, being able to introduce his mother to his cousins and include her in The Plan was a weight off his shoulders; Annabeth was the best tactician Charlie had ever met and probably would ever meet. The night he told her who he was, and after he had his slightly embarrassing breakdown, she had asked him all kinds of questions; about who the others were, what their plan was to tell everybody, and who else knew who they were. She was slightly miffed that Thalia knew before but understood that they didn't really have a choice in the matter.

The morning after the mother/son conversation, having fallen asleep on his dad's bunk together, Charlie introduced her mom to her nieces and nephews resulting in her getting bear hugged in the process by his cousins. Which Charlie had to give his mom props, for a teenager who just found out she was a mother to a fourteen year old and an aunt to five other teenagers she handled herself with grace. She managed to settle the Terrors down, get Ethan to break his stoic exterior, and get Lily and Silena to stop panicking over the plan. His mother was awesome!

She had also promised to help them explain and convince the other parents that, no they weren't crazy and yes this is all real, that was going to tough. Hell his mom said the only reason she believed him as soon as she did was because he had Percy's eyes. Of course a week and a half after telling his mother the truth Lily had an accident in the forge with her dad involving a socket wrench, a blow torch, and peaches that led to Lily having to tell her dad the truth. No one asked for further detail despite the curiosity that was killing them all, nobody was quite sure whether or not it would be worth it to know. Thankfully his mom had been in the area when it happened and was able to help Lily explain, Charlie thought it showed just how cool Leo was that after the initial explanation he just rolled with the punches and spent time with his daughter.

Bringing himself back to the present however Charlie woke up nervous as all hell, and the reason for that was because today was the day they would be telling the rest of the parents who were at Camp Half-Blood including Will who Zack had been spending as much time with as possible. Annabeth and Leo were going to gather everyone on the mostly finished Argo ll and take the lead on explaining while the Kids stayed quiet, thinking that if it came from them and then they started talking to them it might be a little more believable.

Charlie rolled out of bed and began nervously gathering his things to shower, hoping the water would calm him down when he hear Ethan call his name from the front door of the cabin. Charlie dumped his stuff hazardously on his bed and walked over to him, pushing him outside while gesturing for him to speak. "Your mom's moving up the timetable for the plan, Leo and the Hephaestus cabin finished the Argo ll early and they are getting ready to go in two days, we need to do this now."

Charlie cursed under breath and started jogging to where the Argo ll was, Ethan by his side. Getting there in less than ten minutes they sprinted onto the boat, nearly bypassing the meeting room/dining room all together causing Ethan and Charlie to tumble into each other as they slid to stop. Charlie noticed the only people in the room at the moment were his mom, Piper, Will, and Emily. Zack, Lily, Silena, Leo and Jason were all missing; Silena and Leo were probably rounding up the other three as we speak.

Shaking out his limbs in a futile attempt to get rid of his nervous energy, Charlie shot Annabeth a grin that she returned and he noticed Piper and Will were giving them weird looks for the smile they had shared. He cleared his throat awkwardly and sat down next to Emily, automatically ruffling her hair on the way down, gaining an irritated look and smack on the arm from her. Snickering with Ethan at her reaction Charlie continued to survey the room, noting his mother's look of amusement at their antics while Piper and Will shook their heads ruefully, probably thinking that eventually Emily was going to really smack the two which they weren't wrong about.

Charlie turned his head to look at the door, the 'parents' in the room cutting their conversation short to do the same as footsteps echoed in the hallway. The five people he had noticed weren't in the room earlier appear in the door frame and begin to settle around the room, the little ball of nerves in his stomach began expanding. His mind started to race with panicked questions. 'How would they react? Would they believe us or would they deem us insane? Would they act like parents or pretend that we weren't even here?'

Feeling like he was about to throw up from all the anxiety he was having, he started taking deep breaths to calm himself down along with Silena running a soothing hand through his hair. Charlie set his shoulders back and locked his emotions down, they weren't going to do him any good at the moment anyway. He threw her a smile and Silena gave him one back as she sat down in the chair next to him before greeting Emily and Ethan on his other side.

As she did that Charlie nodded at Zack and Lily as they sat on the other side of Silena. Charlie frowned, realizing that Zack looked worse than Charlie felt, his skin a pale white color with a ting of green while his hands shook slightly. He reached over the back of Silena's chair to put a hand on Zack's shoulder. He let out a shaky breath and gave Charlie a thankful smile before he stared at the table getting his emotions in check like Charlie had done not even a minute ago.

Charlie gave him some semblance of privacy and turned his head to survey the now filled room. His mother was quietly talking with Piper; Leo had pulled Jason and Will into some kind of discussion about the quest from the sounds of it, Silena was bickering with Ethan while Emily observed and threw out comments when she felt it necessary, and Lily was fiddling with something he couldn't get a look at. He decided that now was as good of a time as any to begin and caught Annabeth's eye, gesturing for her to start. She nodded and broke away from her conversation with Piper. "Okay so I know a few of you are wondering why I called you here, and why the six of them are here." She waved her hand at Charlie and his cousins.

Will nodded. "Yeah, I figured this was a prophecy of Seven thing so why am I here?"

Annabeth gave Charlie one last reassuring look "The story will explain it Will. Now the story is long and crazy and pretty unbelievable so I'm going to ask that you please don't interrupt me." She directed the question at Will, Piper, and Jason. The three of them nodded their heads and got comfortable. Annabeth let out a confident smile. "So this is kind of weird but near the end of the quest Gaia does something to Tartarus."

* * *

Watching the expressions on his cousins faces as their parents denied what Annabeth and Leo were telling them made Charlie's heart hurt. He knew exactly how they felt, that minute where his mom completely denied what he told her had been heart wrenching, he was just lucky in the fact that his mother recognized that Charlie had his father's eyes and believed him.

Jason and Will along with Piper had been unwavering in not believing their story for fifteen minutes now; they had actually had to hold Jason down when he tried to leave. Witnessing the argument continue, Charlie finally had enough; watching Zack and Silena's heartbroken expressions was killing him! Charlie shot to his feet and yelled. "Everybody stop!"

Immediately everyone went silent and stared at him. Later when everything was settled Lily would tell him that his eyes had turned stormy and angry, while water had sloshed around in everybody's cups. At that moment in time though Charlie didn't know that, all he knew was that his cousins were hurting because these jerks didn't want to accept the fact that their kids had come from the future and that made him angry. Charlie glared at the three of them. "What would it take to get you to believe us?"

Piper shifted uncomfortably. "Can you show us any powers you guys have? If you're telling the truth then some of you should have powers right?" she looked a little scared and desperate. For what though, he didn't know.

Charlie focused on his open water bottle and pulled the water out of it making random shapes in the air. Seeing Lily light herself on fire, Zack fall into Ethan's shadow and pop up behind Leo scaring the wits out of him and Silena stand up and use the air to levitate, Charlie knew they had to believe them now; after all you can't exactly fake what they were doing.

Chancing a glance at the 'adults' he was pleased to see his mom giving them proud looks, Leo throwing them a thumbs up while he gave Zack a noggie and Will, Piper and Jason staring at the four of them in shock. Charlie, feeling smug and a little mischievous, moved the water over their heads and let go, soaking them. All three of them gasped at the feeling while Zack, Lily, Leo and Emily started giggling hysterically while Ethan, Silena and Annabeth traded amused grins. Charlie just crossed his arms and leaned against the table, happy he had cheered up his family. Uncaring about the water that had been dumped on him, Jason asked in a dazed voice "You're really our kids? And you really did come from the future to prevent Tartarus from braking?"

"Yup, it's all completely true. Congratulations, Uncle Jase, it's a girl!" Charlie said cheerfully waving a hand at Silena who waved back with a slightly sarcastic smile on her face. ****~~~~

He sank into a chair and started despairingly muttering. "Oh gods I'm a dad to a teenage girl." Charlie, deciding to leave him to wallow in his apparent misery, turned to Will who was staring at Zack recovering from his fit of the giggles, with a look of happiness and longing on his face. Making a snap decision, Charlie took a few steps over to him and dragged him over to Zack.

"You should lose the dopey look, Uncle Will. Someone might think you have feelings." Charlie teased them, channeling Emily and her ability to sass people.

Charlie backed off and returned to his seat after getting a disgruntled look from both father and son. His mother had replaced Silena by his side as the brunette was talking with her mom while they waited for Jason to end the crisis he was in the middle of at the moment. Charlie gave an exhausted look to his mom and put his head on her shoulder. "I can't believe we have to tell five other people still, including dad!"

She let out a small chuckle and ran her fingers through his hair, causing him to cuddle into her shoulder more. "Don't worry him, I'll handle your father." Sympathy shot through him and he mentally prayed she wouldn't hurt him too bad; he still wanted to be born after all.

* * *

Elsewhere across the country a green eyed boy shuddered at the feeling of chills going down his spine. The slightly chubby boy beside him noticed and asked "What's wrong Percy?"

Percy frowned. "I don't know, I just got chills down my back."

The petite girl next them spoke up. "Maybe your just cold, besides we need to go talk to Reyna now anyway." The two boys nodded and followed her. Still, Percy couldn't help but wonder who was plotting against him and if they were someone he knew. What he did know was that he was dreading finding out what they had in store for him.


	7. Charlie V

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Filler Chapter basically

**(Charlie POV)**

Standing on the deck of the Argo ll on their way to Camp Jupiter, Charlie was wracked with nerves. Here he was about to go on a quest with his teenage parents along with his also teenage aunts and uncles. His dad also still didn't know he even existed yet much less know who he was. Thank the gods for his mother because she already had a plan on how to tell him and how to make him believe them. Hopefully he did because it would be awkward on the quest otherwise.

Luckily all the parents at Camp Half-Blood believed them after they showed them their powers. Piper and Jason had spoiled Silena rotten in the week after being told who she was, they stole her away after a half an hour of reexplaining the story and telling them everything they were allowed to be told about their kids quest, which was very little much to the parents' chagrin. But they took her for a small family meeting and returned an hour later with red rimmed eyes but happy expressions on their faces. Jason constantly holding the two girls protectively like they would disappear if he let go.

Will and Zack had disappeared as well but were only gone for fifteen minutes, returning to the meeting room refusing to let each other out of the bear hug they had each other in, Will having tucked Zack under his chin holding him tight and running his fingers through his hair while Zack seemed to try his best to burrow into his father. No one could blame any of them though since Leo and Lily rarely left each other's sides, and Annabeth and Charlie had fallen asleep on his dad's bunk when he told her the truth. Truth be told, he and his cousins had worked themselves into such a stressed state that when their parents actually believed and accepted them, the kids just never wanted to let go. Their parents shared that idea as well.

The day before they left for Camp Jupiter though Will had raised all kinds of hell. He wanted to come on the quest to be with his son, leading to a two-hour long argument trying to prevent him from coming since they needed him to stay at Camp. He finally agreed very reluctantly and made the other parents swear up and down that they would protect Zack with their lives which they readily agreed to. The goodbye between father and son was hard to watch despite the fact it had only been two days since they had told Will, Jason and Piper the truth. Will had come to adore his son and told Zack in no uncertain terms that he was to come back unharmed or he was grounded for life.

Having to watch the goodbye made Charlie reevaluate the plan for minute, which frustrated the hell out of him, knowing that they had to bring Zack along or the plan wouldn't work. Charlie then proceeded to promised Will that he would make sure Zack came home safe and sound only for him to look at the fourteen year old and tell him that he wanted all of the kids back home and that they would not be taking any unnecessary risks or he would lock the six of them in the infirmary for a month before he quickly huddled him and the rest of his cousins into a group hug.

That had been two days ago and now they were near the Roman camp. His mom was doing her version of freaking out, having already paced the deck, triple checking that the ballistae were locked down, confirmed that the slightly unnecessary white flag was flying from the mast and had reviewed not just the plan but the backup plan and the backup plan for the backup plan with everyone on board. Lily had already told him if she wasn't so sure she would get her assed kicked, she would have tried to strangle her by now. Charlie had mentally agreed with her but just told her to go help her dad with the flying. She had grumbled at him but did as she was told.

Charlie had to give his mom props though, she had pulled aside Coach Hedge, the 'chaperone' that they apparently needed for some reason, and convinced him to go to his cabin and watch reruns of MMA championships. Everything was in order, Zack and Lily were downstairs doing something in the mess hall, Ethan was up in the perch, Lily was with her dad, and Silena was talking with her mom.

It was all going smoothly; the Romans spotted them, sounded their horns and were coming to meet them just like they had planned, and then of course that's when the exploding statue showed up. Charlie had been looking with his mom at New Rome when something behind them went _BOOM_! Annabeth and Charlie almost got knocked overboard. The both of them spun around and stared in mild shock the extremely enraged statue. "Unacceptable!" he shrieked loudly.

He had exploded into existence on the deck from what Charlie could tell. Some kind of yellow smoke rolled off his shoulders. Cinders popped around his curly hair. From the waist down, he was on a literal pedestal, and from the waist up he was an unbelievably muscular guy. Charlie decided that those didn't count since they were carved into him. "I will not let weapons inside the Pomerian Line!" He announced sounding like two-year-old. "I certainly will not have Greeks!" saying the word Greek like it was the worst word in the world making Charlie scowl and shift angrily, Annabeth placing a placating hand on his arm.

Jason shot them a reassuring look that didn't reassure Charlie at all. "Terminus" he said confidently. "It's me. Jason Grace."

The statue, Terminus, scowled and grumbled. "Oh, I remember you, Jason. I thought you had better sense than to consort with the enemies of Rome."

Jason huffed indignantly. "They're not enemies- "only for Piper to smoothly take over. "That's right. We just want to talk. If we could- "

"Ha!" The statue rather rudely snapped making Silena scowl and tense up. "Don't try that charmspeak on me, young lady. And put down that dagger before I slap it out of your hands!"

Piper glanced at her dagger, looking slightly surprised she was still holding it. "Um…okay. But how would you slap it? You don't have arms."

Charlie cringed at the question, expecting the yelp from Piper as she dropped her dagger, which was smoking and sparking, while Terminus the jerk snapped "Impertinence." Charlie rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. "Lucky for you I've been through a battle," the marble moron announced. "If I were at full strength, I would have blasted this flying monstrosity out of the sky already!"

"Hold up," Leo stepped forward, waving his Wii remote, Lily right next to him looking incensed on his behalf. "Did you just call my ship a monstrosity? I know you didn't do that."

Annabeth stepped forward in the hopes of calming everyone down while Charlie snuck over to where Zack and Emily had finally appeared looking confused and tense. Gesturing for them to stay, he stepped in front of them acting as shield while his mom kept the peace, Ethan suddenly appearing by Silena's side as he surveilled the situation. "Let's all calm down," Annabeth raised her hands, showing that she was weaponless. "I take it you're Terminus, the god of boundaries. Jason told me you protect the city of New Rome, right? I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of- "

"Oh, I know who you are!" Terminus interrupted and glared hatefully at her, steadily getting on Charlie's nerves making him want to punch the statue. "A child of Athena, Minerva's Greek form. Scandalous! You Greeks have no sense of decency. We Romans know the proper place for that goddess."

Annabeth's jaw clenched while Charlie balled his fists and prepared to take a step toward the statue that was starting to enrage him, only for Emily and Zack to grab his arms and force him to stay in place. He took a few deep breaths to calm down while Annabeth asked through clenched teeth. "What exactly do you mean, that goddess? And what's so scandalous about- "

"Right!" Jason abruptly cut her off looking slightly afraid. "Anyway Terminus, we're here on a mission of peace. We'd love permission to land so we can- "

"Impossible" the god squeaked like a hamster. "Lay down your weapon and surrender! Leave my city immediately!" the god contradicted himself.

Charlie exchanged looks with his cousins, debating on a plan, while Leo asked "Which is it? Surrender or leave?"

"Both!" Terminus said, his voice steadily getting more high pitched the longer the conversation went on. "Surrender, then leave. I am slapping your face for asking such a stupid question, you ridiculous boy! Do you feel that?"

"Wow," Leo said, distinctly unimpressed with the statue. "You're wound up pretty tight. You got any gears in there that needed loosening? I could take a look." He dropped his Wii remote in his magic tool belt and took out a screwdriver to tap at the gods pedestal.

"Stop that!" He cried acting as if Leo had violated him. Another tiny explosion caused Leo to drop his screwdriver. "Weapons are not allowed on Roman soil inside the Pomerian Line."

Piper looked slight confused "The what?"

Jason took pity on her and answered. "City limits."

"And this entire ship is a weapon!" Terminus said. "You cannot land!"

The six kids were still bickering about a plan entirely through looks while this was going on. Lily, Zack and Charlie wanted to kick his ass while Ethan, Silena and Emily wanted to try to find a more diplomatic solution first before they potentially made enemies with Rome. Team Kickass (Lily, Zack, Charlie) thought Team Diplomacy (Emily, Ethan, Silena) were spoil sports while they thought the other three were immature. Really, both teams were right about one another.

Suddenly Annabeth ordered Leo to stop the ship, confusing Charlie. After all, why would she stop the ship? He looked over at her and noticed the intense stare she had fixated at the ground below. Following her line of sight, Charlie realized why she did it. She had found Percy, who was walking towards the Argo ll with his arms around Hazel and Frank with his praetor cape on. Instantly his heart soared and he smiled brightly, his dad was right there!

Charlie heard Leo questioning his mother and said. "You heard her. Stop the ship, keep us right where we are." Leo looked at him and shrugged, pulling out his remote, pulling it upward, and stopping the ship.

Annabeth got down to business. "Terminus, there's no rule against hovering over New Rome, is there?"

The statue frowned thoughtfully. "Well, no…"

"We can keep the ship aloft" Annabeth said, determination in her voice "We'll use a rope ladder to reach the forum. That way, the ship won't be on roman soil. Not technically." Terminus seemed to ponder this and Charlie had to fight the urge to ask if he was stroking his chin with imaginary hands too.

"I like technicalities," he said as if they were a guilty pleasure of his. "Still…"

Annabeth immediately pounced on him. "All our weapons will stay aboard the ship. I assume the Romans, even those reinforcements marching toward us, will also have to honor your rules inside the Pomerian Line if you tell them to?"

"Of course," Terminus said in a snobbish tone. "Do I look like I would tolerate rule breakers?"

"Uh, Annabeth…" Leo spoke up with a glance at the kids first. "You sure this is a good idea?"

Annabeth closed her fists tightly and thought for second before she nodded and said. "It'll be fine. No one will be armed. We can talk in peace. Terminus will make sure each side obeys the rules." She refocused her attention on the statue. "Do we have an agreement?"

Terminus sniffed haughtily. "I suppose. For now. You may climb down your ladder to New Rome, daughter of Athena. Please try not to destroy my town."

Charlie let out a relieved breath but then realized that the fun hadn't actually started yet. They still had to tell his dad about him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it's so short. It's basically a filler chapter. The next one is waaaaaaay longer.


	8. Silena III

**(Silena POV** )

Watching Annabeth flip Percy on his ass was the highlight of Silena's day. The moments before that however had been adorable. The two of them rushing to each other at the same time and Percy wrapping his arms around Annabeth was simply amazing and catching Charlie smiling brilliantly at them, carefree for the first time in while and ecstatic his parents were together and happy, caused Silena and the rest of her cousins to smile as well.

Of course, the moment she flipped him their smiles turned into hysterical laughter even as some of the Romans rushed forward and cried out. Reyna, thankfully, yelled. "Hold! Stand down!"

The timetravlers forced themselves to calm down as Annabeth threatened Percy before letting him up, Silena giggled breathlessly while her dad awkwardly said "So, yeah…It's good to be back." As Jason introduced Piper and Leo, she finally managed to stop smiling like a fool and spotted Tyson along with Mrs. O'Leary who was the Jacksons' family 'pet'.

Silena waved at the cyclops as she elbowed Charlie to do the same. She watched Tyson's face light up as he waved back at them. They (meaning Silena and her cousins) had all met Tyson two weeks before he left for the Roman Camp and ended up explaining who they were to him once he said Charlie smelled and she quoted "Like brother Percy but also like Annie." Resulting in them telling him and making him promise not to tell Percy.

Silena smiled as the rest of her cousins took note of who they were waving at and joined in. She noticed Percy staring hard at Charlie who had taken note and stared right back. Silena wondered if Tyson had spilled the beans before they had even gotten there.

Silena finally tuned back into the conversation around her as she left the two Jackson boys to their stare off. Annabeth was holding out her hand to Reyna. "I only attack my boyfriend like that. Pleased to meet you."

Reyna clasped her hand. "It seems like we have a lot to discuss. Centurions!"

A few Roman campers hustled forward, Frank and Hazel appeared on either side of Percy. Hazel was looking intently at Leo though, and Silena suddenly remembered stories from both of them about a guy named Sammy from Hazel past who was Leo's great grandfather and looked startlingly like him. Silena hoped Emily and Lily's presence would be able to cut out the drama surrounding them and Frank as well as stopping Frank from being such a jerk. Otherwise she was sure Charlie and Lily were both going to kick his ass. Lily because she loved her dad and was very protective of him and Charlie because he absolutely despised drama between family members. He actively smacked anyone who tried to start it.

Silena sighed in resignation as Reyna ordered her officers to tell the legion to stand down and inform the kitchen to prepare a welcoming feast. She was ready to smack Octavian when he whined at Reyna. Percy and Charlie snapped out of their intense staring as the augur spoke. "You're letting these intruders into the camp?" He scowled. "Reyna, the security risks- "

"We're not taking them to the camp, Octavian." The praetor sent him a look that screamed _don't mess with me_. "We'll eat here, in the forum."

"Oh, much better," He grouched, treading on thin ice already if the look in Reyna's eyes was to go by. "You want us to relax in the shadow of their warship."

Charlie, Ethan and Silena shook their heads as Reyna slowly started looking more furious with the idiot that was Octavian. Everyone knew you didn't question Reyna's authority, you just didn't do it. Unless you're Octavian the brainless of course and have an inherent death wish.

"These are our guests." she snapped out every word making all the kids cringe at the memories of that tone. She had only ever used it when they did something spectacularly stupid and almost got themselves killed. "We will welcome them, and we will talk to them. As augur, you should burn an offering to thank the gods for bringing Jason back to us safely."

"Good idea, go burn your bears, Octavian." Percy stepped in with some helpful sass.

Reyna looked like she was trying not to smile as she told Octavian. "You have my orders. Go."

Silena leaned over to Charlie and whispered. "Looks like Uncle Percy's always been a sarcastic ass." Charlie chuckled as the officers went to do as they were ordered, Octavian shooting Percy a loathing look as he did so.

Silena leaned back and paid attention as Percy said. "Don't worry about Octavian. Most of the Romans are good people- like Frank and Hazel here, and Reyna. We'll be fine." He slipped his hand into Annabeth's as he finished. She winced slightly at the look on Annabeth's face. She wondered how Percy could be such a dunce sometimes.

Annabeth seemed to swallow back any nerves she had as she repeated Percy's sentence. "We'll be fine."

"Excellent," Reyna said, giving Jason a look that had Silena and Ethan shifting uncomfortably. "Let's talk, and we can have a proper reunion."

* * *

As she sat at her table for lunch with Emily on her right and Lily on her left, Silena wished they could stay at the Roman camp forever and not do their stupid quest since it was so nice on the outside she could only imagine how it looked on the inside.

They sadly couldn't as was explained to them over lunch as the demigods around their table shared war stories.

Jason had been in the middle of telling everyone about his quest with Piper and Leo when Octavian bulldozed his way into the conversation. "Impossible!" he dramatically cried "That's our most sacred place. If the giants had imprisoned a goddess there- "

"They would've destroyed her," Piper stepped in, momentarily taking over for Jason. "And blamed it on the Greeks, starting a war between the camps. Now be quiet and let Jason finish." Silena giggled at her mom treating him like a five-year-old and watched Jason give her a thankful look before continuing.

"So," he cleared his throat "that's how we found out about the earth goddess Gaea. She's still half asleep, but she's the one freeing the monsters from Tartarus and raising the giants. Porphyrion, the big leader dude we fought at the wolf house; he said he was retreating to the ancient lands- Greece itself. He plans on waking Gaea and destroying the gods by… what did he call it? Pulling up their roots."

The kids shifted restlessly, none of them liked remembering what their parents had to do despite the fact the six of them might have the more dangerous quest. Emily tiredly laid her head on Charlie's shoulder, who was on Emily's right side, making him look down at her before he shifted and cajoled her into laying down with her head in his lap and her feet in Silena's.

Silena gave her a sympathetic look as she rubbed her calves soothingly while focusing her own attention back on the rest of the table. She caught the end of Percy's sentence "….Our own encounter with Queen Dirt Face."

As Percy recounted his side of the story Silena nudged Charlie and gave a questioning look, asking him when he was going to pull aside his dad along with Hazel, Reyna and Frank and explain who he, Emily and Ethan were. He gave her one back that said 'Soon.' Silena returned it with another of her own 'It had better be soon, otherwise I'm telling them right here and now.' He gave her an outraged one but sulkily nodded a moment later. Feeling accomplished, Silena turned back to the table noticing her mother giving her an amused look over the exchange with Charlie. Silena gave her a smile and took a bite of her lunch.

Percy finished his story and Jason whistled appreciatively. "No wonder they made you praetor."

"Which means we now have three praetors! The rules clearly state we can only have two!" Octavian decided to stick his nose in the conversation again.

"On the bright side," Percy said cheerfully, "both Jason and I outrank you, Octavian. So, we can both tell you to shut up."

Charlie chuckled quietly while he ran his fingers through a mostly asleep Emily's hair, while Octavian turned an interesting shade of purple. Jason gave Percy a fist bump while Reyna gave a small smile. "We'll have to figure out the extra praetor problem later," she said. "Right now, we have more serious issues to deal with."

"I'll step aside for Jason," Percy said, shrugging. "It's no biggie."

"No biggie?" Octavian squeaked incredulous. "The praetorship of Rome is no biggie?"

Percy ignored him completely, causing Leo, Lily and Zack to give out stifled giggles, and turned to Jason. "You're Thalia Grace's brother, huh? Wow. You guys look nothing alike."

"Yeah, I noticed," Jason said back dryly. "Anyway, thanks for helping my camp while I was gone. You did an awesome job."

Percy nodded and returned the sentiment. "Back at you."

Silena felt Annabeth kick Percy's shin. "We need talk about something that affects most of the people at this table, including you Percy."

He nodded. "Right, the prophecy of Seven."

Annabeth looked conflicted. "Well, yes we need to talk about that but I'm talking about something else."

"Like what?" He said, tilting his head slightly like a dog, a move Silena recognized because Charlie did it all the time.

Charlie cleared his throat. "Like why my cousins and I are here." He gestured around vaguely.

"Oh, I already know who you are. You're mine and Annabeth's son." Percy said with a slight smirk on his face.

Everybody stared at him for a moment before Lily exclaimed, "How?!"

His smirk widened. "You made Tyson promise not to tell me, you never said anything about Hazel and Frank."

Ethan, Charlie and Silena slapped a hand to their foreheads and groaned while Zack and Lily muttered despairingly, Emily still napping on Silena and Charlie's laps. Annabeth shook her head and disbelievingly said. "And you're okay with this? I mean we have a fourteen-year-old son who's on a quest to fix Tartarus, Seaweed Brain. That's kind of bizarre."

Percy nodded his head. "I accepted how bizarre my life would be when I realized I was a demigod. Having a fourteen-year-old son from the future on a dangerous quest is just another day at the office. Though I am going to grill him about having to fix Tartarus." Percy gave Charlie a look as he finished talking.

Charlie cringed slightly. "It's a long story, Dad. But it's one I'll tell you right now." he winced as Silena stomped on his foot when he was about change the subject.

Percy gave her an amused look as he said. "I'm waiting."

Charlie let out a sigh and told him the story he had given five times now. Silena and Ethan cringed a little bit when they saw the outrage on Percy, Reyna, Hazel, and Frank's faces when he got to the part about Camp Jupiter being destroyed but thankfully didn't interrupt Charlie. Charlie quickly finished the story and fell silent so that the four of them could process it. They didn't have very long before Octavian, the ass spoke up. "Impossible! You lie! This is just some filthy Greek trick! You're not even his son! That daughter of Athena is just some Greek whor-"

He was abruptly cut off by Charlie snapping out his hand causing all the water to rise from everyone's cups to form a trident pointed at his throat. "I wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you." Charlie spoke in a cold, wrath filled voice while his eyes darkened multiple shades. "Because if I don't kill you, I promise my father will."

Silena turned to look at Percy when he spoke, who looked absolutely furious and deadly as he laid his hand on Annabeth's shoulder. "Yes, I will. Still think he's not my son Octavian?" He spoke in the same tone as Charlie had. Octavian didn't say anything angering Percy further. "Speak augur. Yes or No, pick one." Percy snapped, looking at the end of his admittedly short patience when it came to his family.

Octavian shook his head as much as he could and said. "He's your son, Praetor Jackson."

Percy scowled. "Good, now you are going to apologize to the mother of my future child and get the hell out of here."

The augur nodded franticly and Charlie dropped the trident, soaking his lap as he turned and bowed his head at Annabeth. "My apologizes, Miss Chase. I don't think of you as a- "

"A whore, Octavian? Well I would hope not as that would mean very bad things for you." She casually threatened him, face looking like it was made of ice.

"Yes Ma'am." Octavian swallowed, looking terrified.

Annabeth nodded and gestured at the door. "Well then I guess you should do as your praetor said, shouldn't you?" she asked rhetorically, no emotion coming across her face.

He nodded hurriedly and speed walked out of the hall, paling further as he caught the furious looks on the entire family's faces. Staring at his back as he ran away with his tail between his legs, Silena shook her head at the sheer idiocy she had just witnessed. Only a true moron dared insult Annabeth Chase Jackson when both her son and husband were in the room.

Everyone began to relax again when they heard a sarcastic voice say, "Well, if he keeps that up he's dead meat."

Everyone turned to look at Emily as she sat up from her position on Charlie's lap. He and Silena exchanged looks and laughed along with everyone else as people made various agreements toward her statement. Piper spoke up, looking faintly amused."Now that that's over with, can we move on to the Prophecy of Seven please?"

Reyna nodded. "Of course." she cleared her throat " _Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall-_ "

" _An oath to keep with a final breath, and foes bear arms to the Doors of Death._ " Annabeth smoothly took over.

Everybody but the kids and Leo stared at her. The kids because they were used to it and Leo because he was too focused on sticking his pinwheel he had made with Lily out of aluminum taco wrappers into passing wind spirits. Frank leaned forward and asked. "Is true you're a child of Min- I mean, Athena?"

"Yes," She said slightly defensive. "Why is that such a surprise?"

Frank looked caught off guard. "Uhhhhhh- "

"Enough," Reyna said firmly."Annabeth is what she says. She's here in peace. Besides…" she gave Annabeth a look of grudging respect. "Percy has spoken highly of you."

Annabeth flushed slightly. "Uh, thanks. At any rate, some of the prophecy is becoming clear. Foes bearing arms to the Doors of Death…that means Romans ands Greeks. We have to combine forces to find those doors."

Hazel picked up a ruby and slipped it into her pocket. "My brother, Nico, went looking for the doors."

"Wait, Nico di Angelo? He's your brother?" Annabeth asked slightly confused.

Hazel nodded as if it were obvious. Annabeth looked like she wanted to ask a million more questions but managed to keep a lid on it, instead just saying. "Okay. You were saying?"

"He disappeared," Hazel licked her lips. "I'm afraid…I'm not sure, but I think something's happened to him." She looked slightly scared for Nico.

"We'll look for him," Percy promised looking a little fierce. "We have to find the Doors of Death anyway. Thanatos told us we'd find both answers in Rome- like the original Rome. Thar's on the way to Greece, right?"

Annabeth looked slightly blown away. "Thanatos told you this? The death god?"

Percy nodded and took a bite of his burger, hilariously in sync with Charlie who had taken a bite of his burger as well. "Now that Death is free, monsters will disintegrate and return to Tartarus again like they used to. But as long as the Doors of Death are open, they'll just keep coming back."

Piper twisted the feather in her hair nervously "Like water leaking through a dam." She said.

"Yeah." Percy smiled. "We've got a dam hole."

Immediately Lily, Zack and Emily started giggling at him while Silena and Ethan shook their heads, all of them having heard the story behind that joke. Charlie tipped his head back to stare at the ceiling and whined. "How am I related to someone who makes such bad jokes?"

Percy wagged his finger at him. "I can and will ground you, young man." He quipped.

"Mom would never let you do that, Dad." Charlie immediately shot back. The two Jackson men smiled brightly at each other, looking for all the world at peace in that moment.

"Play nice, boys. And Seaweed Brain, get on with it please." Annabeth cut in with an amused look.

The two green eyed males automatically turned and chorused. "Yes ma'am." Percy continuing alone. "Anyway the point is we'll have to find the doors and close them before we can head to Greece. It's the only way we'll stand a chance of defeating the giants and making sure they stay defeated."

Reyna grabbed an apple from a passing food tray and began using it as a stress ball. "You propose an expedition to Greece in your warship. You do realize that the ancient lands- and the Mare Nostrum- are dangerous?"

"Mary who?" Leo and Lily asked in unison, the father daughter duo messing around with their pinwheels.

"Mare Nostrum," Jason explained, looking amused at his best friend and goddaughter messing around. "Our Sea. It's what the Ancient Romans called the Mediterranean."

Reyna nodded. "The territory that was once the Roman Empire is not only the birthplace of the gods. It's also the ancestral home of the monsters, Titans and giants… and worse things. As dangerous as travel is for demigods here in America, there it would be ten times worse."

"You said Alaska would be bad," Percy told her somewhat cheerfully. "We survived that."

Reyna shook her head. "Percy, traveling in the Mediterranean is a different level of danger altogether. It's been off limits to Roman demigods for centuries. No hero in his right mind would go there."

"Then we're good!" Emily smiled as she sat in-between her parents, who immediately smiled at her. "Because we're all crazy!"

Zack nodded his head enthusiastically. "Uncle Leo built the Argo ll which is a top-of-the-line warship. I'm sure it'll get us through."

"She, Zack, it's a she." Lily corrected fiercely.

Zack rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Charlie frowned at them and preemptively cut off the argument that was bound to happen while the 'adults' continued talking. "Hey, knock it off you two. Pay attention."

The two bickering brats grumbled and settled down after he gave them a glare. Ethan, Charlie and Silena gave each other amused looks and tuned back into the conversation happening around them. Tyson and Ella had walked in during the kids little exchange and apparently managed to insult Leo since he was saying, "Did that chicken girl just compare my ship to the Titanic?"

Hazel gave him a look. "Ella's not a chicken. She's a harpy. She's just a little… high strung."

"Ella is pretty," Tyson said, causing Charlie and Silena to nudge each other and whisper teasingly in the others ears as Tyson continued. "And scared. We need to take her away, but she will not go on the ship."

"No ships," Ella repeated before looking at Annabeth. "Bad luck. There she is. Wisdom's daughter walks alone- "

Frank stood up instantly. "Ella! Maybe it's not the best time- "

Charlie's eyes widened and gave Emily a sharp look, spurring her to make a quick gesture. A slight shimmer appeared around the group. No one else noticed, too busy staring at Ella. "The Mark of Athena burns through Rome," Ella continued, clamping her hands over her ears and raised her voice, "Twins snuff out the angel's breath, Who holds the key to endless death. Giants' bane stands gold and pale, Won through pain from a woven jail."

Everyone stayed quiet, enough that you could hear a pin drop in their little area. Thankfully nobody outside their family had heard Ella's prophecy. Charlie flashed Silena a panicked look as he rolled to his feet. "I know! Tyson, how about you take Ella to get some fresh air? You and Mrs. O'Leary can take her to some fields or something, okay?" Tyson nodded at Charlie's words, looking slightly confused, and started walking out with her. Charlie bit his lip before spinning to look at Ethan. "Hey, can you- "

"I'm on it." Ethan cut him off, standing up and striding over to Tyson, beginning to point at a field a little ways away.

Charlie turned to Reyna. "Please don't tell Octavian. I don't know what that insecure blowhard will do if he finds out about her."

Reyna studied him for a moment before nodding. "Alright, I won't. But Ella was very loud, how did nobody else hear her?"

Charlie gave a relieved sigh. "Em, you can let down the barrier now." Emily nodded and gave a subtle wave of her hand, the barrier shimmering again slightly as it came down, Emily slumping into her dad a little as the spell took it out of her. "Emily can do a little bit magic here and there, so when Ella said that first line I snapped off a quick look to Emily to put up a sound barrier so no one would go running off to the blowhard." Charlie explained sitting back down after giving Emily a once over.

Reyna looked impressed. "How old is she?"

Charlie exchanged looks with the rest of the kids."Twelve and a half."

Reyna hummed and looked at Silena and Charlie. "If you two wouldn't mind, I'd like to talk to you. Alone."

They glanced at each other for a few seconds, weighing their options, before the two turned back and nodded. She gave a sharp nod and stood up, obviously wanting them to follow. Charlie looked at Lily and asked. "Lily, that thing we talked about before we got here. Can you and Zack handle that?"

Silena knew what he was talking about. Before they had landed, the six of them had discussed what to do about the Eidolons and how to prevent them from firing on the Roman camp. They had decided that Lily, Zack and Silena would handle it while the rest distracted everybody else. Lily gave a confidant nod. "We got it, don't worry."

Silena and Charlie nodded and followed Reyna, wondering what she had to talk to them about.


	9. Silena IV

**(Silena POV)**

Charlie and Silena were both nervous and confused, wondering what Reyna wanted to talk to them about. After all, what would she need to ask them that she couldn't in front of the rest of the family? As they walked, Silena realized they were heading to the same field Ethan had gone to with Tyson, Ella and Mrs. O'Leary. The two cousins exchanged uneasy looks, nothing good could come from a conversation that needed the two of them and Ethan.

Ethan started walking toward the three of them with a confused look on his face after sending Tyson and Ella somewhere with Mrs. O'Leary shadowtraveling them. They met in the middle of the field and Ethan immediately turned toward Charlie. "What's going on? Why are you three out here?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Charlie shrugged and hooked a thumb at Reyna. "Ask her. I have no idea."

Reyna gave an amused look at Charlie before answering. "I wanted to talk to you about the main goal of your quest. Fixing Tartarus correct?" The three nodded, curious as to what she was getting at. Unfortunately, they got their answer a moment later. "How exactly does one go about _fixing_ Tartarus exactly?" She inquired, watching their expressions intently, narrowing her eyes when they froze.

The trio exchanged quick looks, wondering how much they should tell her. No one had asked them what the plan was for that particular part of the quest, not even the rest of the kids. If they had, they probably would have protested more. Hell, the only reason Silena and Charlie had brought Ethan in on this aspect of it was because somebody needed to outside of the two of them and Ethan would understand why they had to do what they had planned.

Reyna quickly called them out on their hesitance to answer. "I want an answer right now. Especially from you." she looked at Ethan specifically, causing him to straighten up. Before he could answer her though, Charlie did it for him. "Look if we tell you, we need you to promise you won't tell anybody. Not Silena's dad, not my dad. No one, okay?"

She nodded. "I promise I won't tell a soul." Charlie sighed and explained it to her. As he did so, her eyes went wide before turning sad as he finished. "You're very brave, Silena and Charlie, even for the legacies that you are. I won't tell, but I would consider leaving a note or a message of some kind so that they now why you did it."

She and Charlie nodded grimly, Silena speaking quietly. "We've already written one and given it to Ethan. We're as prepared as we can be."

"No amount of preparing will help you with the mission you will be undertaking." Reyna took on a sad expression. 

Charlie nodded. "We know but we can still try." Charlie stood up straight, a confident look in his eyes. Silena just nodded in agreement at his words.

Reyna gave them a small smile. "Well, thank you for telling me. Now if you two don't mind, I'd like to talk to my future son."

They did as she asked, vacating the field so that the mother/son duo could have some privacy for the conversation they were about to have. As they walked back to the forum, Charlie turned to her with a serious look. "Silena, I didn't bully you into doing this right? Because I'm fine with going alone if you decide you can't do this."

She stopped walking, forcing him to stop as well, and glared at him until he fidgeted. "Charles Lucas Jackson, you and I came up with this plan together. I am not backing out now just because you've finally realized how dangerous it is."

"Alright, alright I get it. You're sticking with me on this, I got." He huffed, raising his hands in a 'I surrender' way.

Toning down her glare, Silena grumbled. "You had better or I will kick your ass. It's always been the two of us for this Charlie, I'm not changing that now."

"I know, I just… I don't want to be the reason for getting you killed." He sighed.

She sighed as well, putting a hand on his arm. "I'm not going to get killed, Charlie, and neither is anyone else. But if I did, I would gladly die if it meant my family, including you, lived."

"I know," He exhaled heavily, causing her bangs to move slightly. "And I would do the same. I just want our family to be whole and stay whole."

Silena nodded, pulling her hand away from his arm. "That's what I want too, CJ."

"You haven't called me that in a while, Lena." He chuckled.

She smiled back. "Right back at you." They began walking again and she spoke up. "I wonder what they're talking abou- "

A _BOOM_ went off a few hundred feet away from them. Charlie grabbed her by the waist and spun, turning his back to the explosion. After staying in place for a few seconds, she lifted her head and turned, peering around Charlie. The scene made her gasp loudly. The Argo ll was firing on the Romans and effectively destroying the Senate House. Charlie and Silena exchanged horrified looks before sprinting to the forum.

"What the _hell_ happened? I thought Zack and Lily were keeping a lid on the Eidolons?" Charlie yelled at Emily as they burst into the forum, ducking under a plate of food that was thrown at them, Charlie sending a cup of water back at the guy who threw it.

Emily screamed back, smacking a Roman in the face with a slice of pizza. "I don't know! Zack took Lily back up to the Argo ll after you left with Aunt Reyna and they haven't been back since!"

Charlie cursed loudly. "Come on! We're going to the ship!"

Emily nodded and jumped down from the table she was on, quickly running over to them. Charlie grabbed her shoulder and shoved her in between her and Charlie for safety while Silena used a move Annabeth had taught her, flipping a Roman over her shoulder into another one.

"Let's go!" Charlie shouted.

The three of them moved out of the forum with difficulty and started making their way to the Argo ll, finally spotting Percy over by a fountain along with Annabeth, Hazel and Frank. Charlie shoved a Roman out of his way and screamed "DAD! MOM! OVER HERE!"

Percy and Annabeth whipped around, looking relieved when they saw their son. Percy blasted people out of the way with water from the fountain. Silena and Charlie pushed Emily ahead of them, into her mother's arms before getting up themselves, but not before Charlie got punched in the face by a random Roman. Percy scowled fiercely and sent an overpowered blast of water at the guy before grabbing Charlie's hand and pulling him up. Annabeth did the same to Silena, pulling her up all the way as she glanced her over before letting go.

"What's going on!" Annabeth hollered, kicking a Roman in the chest.

"We don't know! Everybody on our side is on the ground!" Silena screamed back.

Suddenly Zack appeared behind Charlie and said something in his ear that caused him to swear. "I'll be right back!" He yelled before Zack gripped his arm and pulled them into a shadow.

"Where did they go?!" Percy screamed at her, blasting a Roman with water.

Silena paused from smacking Romans with a pole she had found on the ground "The Argo ll, I think. Hey, do you know where my parents and Uncle Leo are?"

He and Annabeth pointed to their right. She followed the direction they pointed in and saw the three of them getting pelted with plates and bricks while Jason shielded her mom as he yelled at them to calm down, Leo next to them flinging carefully control flame whips around them. Swearing, Silena spun and smacked a Roman across the head with her stolen pole, yelling. "Time to go!"

Percy nodded grimly. "Hazel, Frank, you've got to make a choice. Are you coming?"

Hazel looked scared out of her wits but shoved her helmet on her head and gripped Emily's shoulders. "Of course we are. But you'll never make it to the ship unless we buy you sometime."

Percy and Annabeth shared a look and simultaneously asked "How?"

Hazel whistled. A horse appeared next to her that Silena recognized as Arion, her aunt's trusty stead. She climbed on his back like it was her purpose in life and unsheathed the sword she had strapped to his saddle. "Send me an Iris-message when you're safely away, and we'll rendezvous." She then pointed at Emily. "You stay with your cousins, Percy or your father, understand me?" Emily saluted her sassily. Hazel gave a nod and told Arion to go, zipping off and knocking Romans on their asses.

Zack suddenly appeared by Silena's side, startling her. "Charlie took care of it! Octavian got possessed along with some random guy! I dropped them off on that hill" he pointed at said hill.

Silena scowled. "It would be Octavian! Hey, take Emily and go back up to the ship and stay there. We'll meet you in a few minutes!" He nodded and grabbed her, fading into a shadow one final time. As he did so Silena spotted Ethan making his way over, yelling. "What happened?!"

"Octavian and some random guy got possessed and started firing at the city!" she replied, hopping over a sword.

Ethan scowled and muttered. "Awesome, it would be that jackass. Do we know how he got past Zack and Lily?"

"No, but Charlie went up there and took care of them. That's why the Argo ll stopped firing." Silena shook her head.

Ethan glanced around at the chaos surrounding them while Percy asked Frank to go save her parents and Leo from being pelted with stones and food after Jason got knocked out. Silena forced herself to stay where she was and not go over to them.

Ethan turned and asked, "Do you think we can get them to stop attacking us?" as he dodged a plate that was thrown at him.

Silena stared around them and took note of the rage and anger surrounding the Romans. "I don't think so. They're pretty mad."

Ethan sighed and reluctantly agreed. Noticing Percy and Annabeth waving for their attention, Silena grabbed his arm and dragged him behind her. Percy started gently shoving the two of them over to the ladder connected to the ship and hollered "Get going! Annabeth and I are right behind you!"

The two of them nodded and started climbing up, Ethan pushing her to go first. Quickly reaching the top, she rushed to over to Lily, who was at the helm, scrambling to get the ship up once everyone was onboard. "Where are Charlie and Zack?" Silena asked while surveying the deck.

Lily pointed downwards. "They're down below with Emily doing a sweep of the ship before we get out of here!"

Ethan appeared next to them and inquired. "How did Octavian and his lackey get passed you and Zack?"

Lily scowled angrily. "I was downstairs doing one last check of the engine room and Zack was in his cabin. After the first volley we rushed up here and tried to stop them but I got smacked around and Zack almost got stabbed. He went to get Charlie after that."

Ethan growled and Silena frowned, noticing the bruises on her face. They shared a furious look, already planning on how they were going to kill who ever dared hit her.

Lily noticed the look and said. "Trust me, I look nowhere near as bad as Charlie does."

Concerned, Silena opened her mouth to ask what happened to him when Annabeth beat her to it. "What's wrong with my son?" She asked fiercely, Percy right beside her, sharing her expression.

Lily grimaced. "He was doing well, kicking their asses when a third guy came out of nowhere and managed to get a piece of him. That's why he's doing a sweep of the ship right now."

The two parents shared a pissed off look. "Where did they get him?" Percy asked.

"The guy sliced into his shoulder pretty good. I don't think he hit bone but it's pretty deep." she said absently, distracted by the controls.

"It's not that bad, firecracker, I promise." Charlie said, coming up behind everyone with the Terrors next to him. Even after being told about his injury, Silena still sucked in a surprise breath when she saw him. Blood oozed from his shoulder and down his chest causing his shirt to be soaked with the crimson liquid.

"Don't lie to me, Fish Boy." Lily frowned as Annabeth gave a surprised curse and rushed toward him with Percy. She scowled and demanded he take off his shirt so she could look at the wound. Charlie started pulling it off and gave a loud groan when the fabric irritated the wound. Uncle Percy winced sympathetically and helped him take it off.

Hearing a thud behind them, Silena whirled around, shifting defensively in front of Lily, Ethan doing the same to Zack and Emily. Everyone relaxed when they realized it was Frank in dragon form carrying her parents and Leo.

Silena's parents immediately collapsed while Leo only stumbled before running over to the helm and began helping Lily get them out of here. Turning briefly back toward Charlie to check on him, she saw that his parents were more than capable of taking care of him. Silena turned her attention back to her own parents.

She tugged on Ethan's shirt, gesturing toward them, silently asking for help moving them. Ethan nodded and walked over with her, pulling Jason over his shoulder and carrying him downstairs to sickbay. Shaking her head at him, Silena nudged her mom back into conciseness and pulled her up, throwing Piper's arm over her shoulders and half dragged/ half carried her to sick bay. Once she laid her down in a bed next to Dad's, Silena stepped back and shook her head in disbelief as she felt the ship start to ascend into the clouds.

After all, wasn't this situation supposed to reversed?


	10. Silena V

**(Silena POV)**

One hour after they beat a hasty retreat away from the Roman camp everyone that was conscious gathered around Leo, who was flying the ship. Charlie was sitting on the floor leaning against his dad, who was on the ground with him rubbing his back as he grimaced in pain, Zack kneeling behind Charlie wrapping a bandage around his injured left shoulder. Thankfully Annabeth had been able to help Zack stop the bleeding and he healed it to the point of it being a deep cut instead of the almost bone deep slash it had been.

Annabeth was next to the three of them, a slight wince on her face at watching her son's own pained expression. Lily was next to her dad helping him, Emily along with her father was a few feet away having a quiet conversation and Ethan and Silena were next to each other, silently waiting for the meeting to begin. Piper was downstairs taking care of Silena's still unconscious father along with Coach Hedge.

Zack finished wrapping Charlie's shoulder and stood up, popping his back and walking over to Ethan and Silena, taking on their silent stance. Percy rolled to his feet and dragged his protesting son with him. Charlie gave a sigh. "Alright, I guess we should get this meeting started. We can fill anyone not here in later."

Everybody nodded and moved in closer, creating a misshapen circle. Percy started them off with a question. "How did three Romans get passed you guys?" He directed toward Lily and Zack causing both of them to scowl.

"Hey, I was checking the engine room and Zack was switching the cabins from a single person room to two-person rooms. If you want blame someone blame Hedge, he's the Satyr." Lily said indignantly.

Charlie immediately jumped in. "Oi! We aren't blaming anyone for this except Gaea, alright? She is the only one at fault for this, got it?" he gave glares to the younger three. They reluctantly nodded. "Good," He then whirled around and glared at Percy. "And you! Were you really going to blame these two for the camp? Cause that would a serious jerk move, Dad."

Percy had the decency to look ashamed. Annabeth gave her son a proud look and smacked her boyfriend/future husband on the back of the head and chided him for trying to play the 'blame game'. Percy winced and promptly apologized to Lily and Zack who, after making him sweat it for a few seconds, happily accepted.

Frank shook his head and bemusedly said. "We need to find somewhere to land so Hazel can come aboard." Emily nodded her head in agreement.

Leo threw his two cents in next. "We also need to get celestial bronze, lime and tar so Lils and I can fix the ship. I already had Festus search the area and we can get all three in Utah."

Annabeth nodded and asked "Where?"

"The Great Salt Lake." Lily responded.

"Alright, Silena do you mind flying down and telling Aunt Hazel to meet us there?" Charlie asked looking at Silena. She bit the inside of her cheek and mentally ran a few calculations through her head before nodding.

"Yeah I can do that. We finished?" she asked Charlie, not even bothering to look at Annabeth. Charlie gave a sharp nod and motioned for her to go. Silena gave him a thumbs up and walked over to the railing of the ship and quickly jumped it, smirking at the loud cries from the Parents. She forced the wind around her to catch her body and propel her toward Hazel.

Silena smiled brightly as she shot through the air, she had always loved flying and the rush it gave her. Looking around she quickly spotted Hazel to her left and aimed herself toward her. Flying down next to her, Silena waved at her aunt while she gaped at her in shock. "Hello Auntie!" Silena cheerfully said, smirking as Hazel continued to gawk.

Hazel shook her head in disbelief. "What are you doing?!"

Silena's smirk grew more pronounced as she said "I'm flying! I also was told to tell you that we're landing in Utah at The Great Salt Lake."

Hazel sighed. "Alright, I'll meet you there. Just…. don't die going back to the ship please."

Silena mock pouted. "Of course I won't die! You people have no faith in me, I swear." she grumbled as she ascended back toward the ship. Silena pushed the wind to get her there faster and she landed on the deck of the Argo ll twenty seconds later. She started giggling as she walked over to the group. It seems that when she jumped over the railing she had given the 'adults' heart attacks. All four of them were panicking while the kids were trying their hardest to calm them down.

"She's right there!" Silena's cousins all yelled, pointing behind the parents at her, completely done with them. They whipped around and exclaimed her name, rushing toward her, Leo tugging her into a tight hug and berating her for scaring him half to death. She just smiled sweetly and patted his back.

Charlie let out an annoyed breath. "Now that you've seen that she's alive, can I go to my cabin and sleep this off?" he motioned to his injured shoulder.

Instantly his parents turned around again and ushered him downstairs, Annabeth saying she 'didn't even know why he was still up'. Charlie took it like a champ and just allowed his parents to baby him. Ethan and Silena chuckled at them and walked a few feet away to spar with each other while Lily and Zack sat down on the ground to watch them. Leo glanced at the two of them curiously but stayed where he was, piloting the ship. Emily and her dad had gone downstairs as well to the mess hall to hang out.

The two cousins went through a few stretches before settling into their stances. Lily rolled to her feet, got in between them and raised her hand.

"The rules of the fight are tap out or count out. No weapons except your bodies and no permanent injuries what so ever. Clear?" she asked, making sure they knew the rules. The two each gave a sharp nod.

She grinned manically. "Alright, then FIGHT!" she said, bringing her hand down and diving out of the way. They grinned at one another and lunged for each other.

* * *

Silena tried to keep her balance as the ship landed roughly, still mock pouting about losing her and Ethan's spar. To be fair though he had pulled a good move, tripping her after she threw a kick, forcing her leg above her head and pinning her. Ethan grinned triumphantly next her as he barely moved from the landing.

Silena's scowl turned real as she grumbled. "Damn ninja." Ethan just laughed at her. She turned around when she heard Hazel land on the deck, smiling as she heard Leo exclaim. "We're in the middle of a lake! Can that thing fly?"

Hazel gave him a half-annoyed look as Arion whined angrily. "Arion can't fly but he can run across just about anything. Water, vertical surfaces, small mountains- none of that bothers him."

"Oh." Leo stared at the horse in disbelief. Hazel scrutinized him, obvious to the kids that she was searching for any difference in his face from Sammy- Leo's maternal great grandfather and Hazel's best friend before she died. It was kind of awkward to be honest.

Thankfully Coach Hedge broke the staring by coming up and saying. "Valdez, does this count as an invasion?"

"No! Um, Hazel, you'd better come with me. I built a stable belowdecks, if Arion wants to- " Leo immediately shut the coach down. 

"He's more of a free spirt." Hazel interrupted him while slipping out of her saddle, causing him to give her a slightly disgruntled look. "He'll graze around the lake until I call him. But I want to see the ship and my daughter so, lead the way."

Leo nodded and gestured for her to follow him. Slightly curious, Silena followed them down, passing her dad's cabin. The door was open showing her mom sitting next to Jason, who was still unconscious, holding his hand while he snored with an ice pack on his head. Silena waved when Piper looked up while the three of them passed her. She gave Silena a soft smile in return before putting a finger to her lips, telling them to be quiet. They continued on to the mess hall, finding the others- Zack, Emily, Percy, Annabeth, and Frank. The Terrors were taking turns telling some story from their childhoods while the parents listened intently, smiling whenever they said something stupid they did as little kids.

She walked in and ruffled Zack's hair. "Are you brats telling them all our secrets?"

They instantly smirked and, in unison, said. "Of course."

Percy shook his head and muttered to himself about how creepy the two of them were. Zack and Emily turned and flashed him innocent smiles, Percy just gave them a suspicious look that Silena knew the two of them delighted in. Deciding to let him off the hook lest the Terrors completely freak him out, Silena asked "So, we've landed. What now?"

Frank answered. "Figure out the prophecy? I mean… that was a prophecy Ella spoke, right? From the Sibylline books?"

Leo blinked in confusion. "The what?" Frank quickly explained about Ella and her impeccable memory for books.

"That's why you didn't tell the Romans," Leo guessed, frowning at the conclusion he had come to. "You didn't want them to get ahold of her."

Percy stared longingly at the image of Camp Half-Blood on the wall. "Ella's sensitive. She was a captive when we found her. I just didn't want…" He clenched his hands. "it doesn't matter now. I sent Tyson an Iris-message, told him to take Ella to Camp Half-Blood. They'll be safe there."

Leo looked doubtful but kept silent. Annabeth laced her fingers and looked at the Terrors and Silena with a serious expression. "Can you tell us anything about the prophecy?" They glanced at each other and shook their heads. She sighed in disappointment but nodded in understanding. "Alright, then I'll think on the prophecy, but right now we have more immediate problems. We have to get this ship fixed. Leo, what do we need?"

He answered instantly. "The easiest thing is tar. We can get that in the city, at a roofing-supply store or someplace like that. Also, Celestial bronze and lime. According to Festus, we can find both of those on an island in the lake, just west of here."

"We'll have to hurry," Hazel warned grimly. "If I know Octavian, he's already spun the story to blame us and is searching for us with his auguries. The Romans will send a strike force after us. It's a matter of honor."

"If they do find us we'll be ready for them." A voice said from the door. Silena turned around and saw Charlie standing there, leaning against the door frame, a clean shirt on and looking refreshed from his catnap.

Percy scowled. " _You_ are supposed to be sleeping!"

Charlie shrugged nonchalantly. "I got thirty minutes, I'm good."

Zack, Emily and Silena stared in surprise. It was after all nearly impossible for Charlie to sleep more than ten minutes during the day and six hours during the night. If he slept for thirty minutes than he was more hurt than he had let on. Annabeth shook her head. "That is not enough sleep for the injury you had, Charles Lucas Jackson!"

Charlie gave her a look for the use of his full name and pulled his T-Shirt down, showing off his previously injured shoulder. The wound had healed to a small scar running from the top of his shoulder down to his collarbone. "See," He gestured at it. "It's fine. Now, can we talk about who's getting what materials we need? Please?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. Annabeth studied him and nodded albeit slightly annoyed. He let out a breath and motioned at Leo to continue, walking to the table and sitting down next to Zack.

He hesitated for a second before speaking. "I was thinking we could use the buddy system. Nobody goes anywhere alone. We can leave Piper, Coach Hedge and the Kids on board to guard the ship and Jason while he's out. Send one team out to get tar. Another team can go after the bronze and the lime."

Percy looked worried. "Split up? That sounds like a really bad idea."

Charlie and Silena shared a look, instantly deciding that Leo's idea was a good one and Silena spoke up. "It'll be quicker this way. Besides there's a reason a quest is usually limited to three demigods, right?"

Annabeth nodded at her logic. "You're right. The same reason we needed the Argo ll… outside camp, seven demigods in one place will attract way too much monstrous attention. The ship is designed to conceal and protect us. We should be safe enough on board; but if we go on expeditions, we shouldn't travel in groups larger than three. No sense alerting more of Gaea's minion's than we have to."

Percy still didn't look happy about it but conceded to their point. "As long as you're my buddy, I'm good." He told Aunt Annabeth. Charlie snorted quietly at his statement causing Percy to shake his fist at him in a mock threat. Charlie just stuck out his tongue at him, Zack snickering next to him.

Hazel smiled. "Oh, that's easy. Frank, you were amazing, turning into a dragon! Could you do it again to fly Annabeth and Percy into town for tar?"

Frank looked conflicted. "I... I suppose. But what about you?"

"I'll ride Arion with Sa- with Leo, here." She quickly corrected herself making Charlie and Silena exchange another look, this time planning on how to keep Frank and Leo away from each other when necessary. "We'll get the bronze and the lime. We can all meet back here by dark."

Frank did not look happy with that plan but before he could say something Emily pinched his arm hard and gave him a warning look. He kept his mouth shut thankfully.

"Leo," Annabeth kept the conversation moving. "if we get the supplies, how long to fix the ship?"

Leo tilted his head thoughtfully. "With luck, just a few hours."

She nodded and made the decision. "Fine, we'll meet you back here as soon as possible, but stay safe. We could use some good luck. That doesn't mean we'll get it."

Everybody nodded in agreement and started to disperse. Frank, Percy and Annabeth all got up and left the room to go do their task. Charlie looked like he was thinking hard before he dashed to the door, whistled loudly and waited a few seconds. Footsteps rushed downstairs and Lily appeared through the doorway looking expectantly at Charlie.

"Can you go with Aunt Hazel and your dad? I figure two firecrackers are better than one." He grinned at her. Lily huffed at him but agreed. Charlie clapped his hands together. "Awesome, then you three can go and the rest of us will guard the ship. Where's Ethan?"

Lily pointed upwards. "He's on watch."

"Good, can you send him down here while you leave?" He asked while he ushered them out. Lily gave a thumbs up and followed the parents upstairs.

He slouched in a chair next Zack and lifted a hand to rest on the younger boy's head. Zack gave him a vaguely annoyed look but let him continue to rest his hand there.

Emily piped up next as Ethan came into the room. "So, what now?"

"Now, we make a schedule for keeping watch. Who's getting first watch?" He asked, looking between the four of them.

Ethan raised his hand. "I'm cool with first shift."

"I'll take second." Silena raised hers next. 

Charlie nodded. "I'll take third and if we need a fourth we'll put you Terrors on it at the same time." he looked at the aforementioned Terrors who nodded in agreement. "Alright, then let's go." He said cheerfully. They all climbed to their feet and walked out, all thinking the same thing.

Things just got real interesting. The worrying part was that none of them knew if it was good or bad.


	11. Lily I

**(Lily POV )**

Riding on Arion's back with Hazel and her dad could only be described as awkward. Hazel was sat in front with Lily sat behind her and Leo behind her. Neither of them talked until they got to the island though, which was a bit disconcerting. Lily knew why Leo wasn't saying anything, Percy had pulled him aside for a quick sidebar explaining Hazel's past and giving a mild threat, Lily assumed from Leo's expression when it ended.

Thankfully, Arion pounded onto the beach and came to a stop, stopping his hooves and whinnying triumphantly. They dismounted and Arion pawed at the sand. Hazel took one look at him and said. "He needs to eat. He likes gold but- "

"Gold?" Leo interrupted, staring at the horse like he was trying to figure out what made him tick.

Hazel pursed her lips together at the interruption but answered. "He'll settle for grass. Go on, Arion. Thanks for the ride. I'll call you when we need a ride back." And just like that Arion was gone with the wind. 

Leo stared after the horse and dryly said "Fast horse, and expensive to feed."

Hazel shrugged "Not really, gold is easy for me."

Leo raised his eyebrows. "How is gold easy? Please tell me you're not related to King Midas. I don't like that guy."

Hazel looked like she very much regretted this conversation. "Never mind." Leo looked curious but mercifully dropped the subject. Deciding to change the subject all together, Lily crouched and cupped a handful of sand. "Well, the good news is that this is lime."

Hazel frowned while her dad knelt down next to her. "The whole beach?"

"Yeah. See? The granules are perfectly round. It's not really sand. It's calcium carbonate." He answered for her, pulling out a fairly large Ziploc bag from his tool belt and the two of them began filling it.

Hazel knelt next to us and helped. "We should've brought a pail and shovels."

The idea made Leo smile. "We could've made a sand castle."

"A lime castle."

They stared at each other for a few seconds too long. Thinking quickly, she decided to just punch her dad's arm. Hard. He immediately jerked back and held it, whipping around to look at her. "OW!" He hollered, waving at the area she had hit. Lily just shrugged and informed him that he was taking too long. He grumbled and half-heartedly threatened to ground her as he quickly finished filling the bag. Hazel gave her a relived look and Lily winked at her. After all, this is the real reason Charlie had her come with.  
Leo stuffed the bag in his tool belt and stood up before turning and helping the two ladies to their feet. Leo looked around, scanning the area. "Festus said there was Celestial bronze close by, but I'm not sure where- "

"That way." Hazel pointed up the beach. "About five hundred yards."

Leo gave her a blank stare. "How do you-?"

"Precious metals." she said with a shrug. "It's a Pluto thing."

The two Valdez's shared a look as Leo said. "Handy talent. Lead the way, Miss Metal Detector."

* * *

  
The sun was setting and turned into a rather interesting mix of purple and yellow. They had been walking for about ten minutes when Hazel finally turned inland. Leo had a worried look on his face. "You sure this is a good idea?"

"We're close," she promised. "Come on."

As they walked over the sand dune she saw a woman sitting on a boulder in the middle of a grassy field. A black and chrome motorcycle was parked nearby, but each wheel had a big pie slice removed from the spokes and rim, like a Pac-Man. Lily was saddened by this since it made the bike undrivable and it seemed like a sin to not drive it. The woman herself had curly black hair and a bone thin frame. She wore black leather pants, tall leather boots and a blood red leather jacket. Observing her appearance and the fortune cookies scattered around her feet, Lily instantly knew who she was. Nemesis, the goddess of revenge.

'Ah Hell, this is going to suck.' Was her only thought as they walked over to her.

"What are you doing?" her dad asked as they came to a stop in front of the goddess. She looked up and Lily grimaced as she saw what form she took for her.

Payton Lewis had been the seventh member of the little group her and her cousins made. She had been a sweet, lovable and fierce legacy that Emily had introduced to everyone when Lily was five, her godly grandparents being Hermes on the maternal side and Apollo on the paternal, and the two had become instant best friends despite the fact that the only one older than her had been Charlie.

They had all hung out together and became a family, until Lily was twelve and Payton's personality flipped completely. She did a complete one eighty and went from being herself to a literal demon. She spread lies about them, tried to pit Lily and her family against each other and generally wreaked havoc on all of their relationships. They cut her out of their lives completely and refused to even talk about her.

Then one day three months before they left for the past, Silena got attacked in the middle of the night. The only reason she didn't die that night was because Ethan had been out on one of his nightly walks and saw someone come out of her house with a knife in their hands covered in blood.

He had immediately rushed into the house, sprinting to Silena's room and started screaming for a medic. The morning after when Silena was patched up and stable, the entire family went on a witch hunt looking for the person who would dare attack one of their family members.

They found out by midday that it had been Payton and that she had ditched camp after attacking Silena. It had turned out that during the second Titan war her parents had been on the losing side but hadn't been caught. They convinced her to try to kill one of them, hoping to demoralize everyone before the trip to the past. Everyone agreed she would either die out there or when the future changed everyone would keep an eye on her in the changed future.

After all was said and done, Lily and the rest of her cousins had scattered around Silena's infirmary room and stayed there for two days until Silena could be moved back to the house. They had all promised each other that night that they would never let anyone or anything hurt one another again if they could help it, and if no one could stop them from hurting any of the family then everyone would help put that person down in any way they could.

Ethan always said that sprinting in that room and seeing Silena covered in blood was the single scariest moment of his life. Everyone agreed with him. So having Nemesis look at her with that face had Lily scrambling to control her powers as she felt that burning rage enter her again. Registering the smoke drifting around her body, Lily quickly turned away from the imposter Payton and focused on her breathing, hoping to calm down before she set someone or something on fire.

Lily could feel her dad looking at her in concern. "Lils, are you okay?" she gave a short nod and continued with her breathing. "What did you do to my daughter?" Lily heard her dad growl in a protective tone. Feeling slightly calmer, she turned back around and avoided looking at her face as the goddess answered.

"I didn't do anything to her. But the face she sees apparently did." She informed him, glancing at Lily with interest in her eyes. "Well child, what do you see?"

"Someone I wouldn't mind pushing off a cliff." Lily muttered, still avoiding her stare. The goddess hummed in interest but backed off. She glanced at her father and he gave her a look that clearly said they would be talking about this later.

Leo cleared his throat and asked. "Why do you look like Aunt Rosa?"

"Is that what you see?" The goddess asked, turning her head curiously. "Interesting. And you, Hazel, dear?"

Hazel flashed Lily a worried look as she answered "You look like Mrs. Leer. My third-grade teacher. I hated her."

The deity cackled. "Excellent. You resented her, eh? She judged you unfairly?"

"She taped my hands to the desk for misbehaving," she said, a touch of anger in her voice. "She called my mother a witch. She blamed me for everything I didn't do and- No. She has to be dead. Who are you?"

"Oh, the child knows, don't you?" she said, looking at Lily with a darkly amused glint in her eyes.

Lily finally picked her head and glared. "Nemesis, the goddess of revenge." Lily said through clenched teeth. She gave a proud smile like she was impressed with the fact Lily actually glared at her.

"You see?" Nemesis said to Hazel, still smiling. "She recognizes me."

The goddess cracked open another cookie and wrinkled her nose. "You will have great fortune when you least expect it," She read. "That's exactly the sort of nonsense I hate. Someone opens a cookie, and suddenly they have a prophecy that they'll be rich! I blame that tramp Tyche. Always dispensing good luck to people who don't deserve it!"

The three of them shared uncertain looks and her dad said "Uh… you know those aren't real prophecies, right? They're just stuffed in those cookies at some factory- "

"Don't try to excuse it!" Nemesis snapped. "It's just like Tyche to get people's hopes up. No, no. I must counter her." She changed the fortune and read it to us. "You will die a painfully when you most expect it. There! Much better."

"That's horrible!" Hazel cried, distressed. "You'd let someone read that in their fortune cookie, and it would come true?"

Nemesis sneered and Lily wasn't at all surprised at how natural it looked on Payton's face. "My dear Hazel, haven't you ever wished horrible things on Mrs. Leer for the way she treated you?"

"That doesn't mean I'd want them to happen to come true!"

"Bah." The goddess grumbled, resealing the cookie and tossing it back in the basket. "Tyche would be Fortuna for you, I suppose, being Roman. Like the others, she's in a horrible way right now. Me? I'm not affected. I am Nemesis in both Greek and Roman. I do not change, because revenge is universal."

"What are you talking about?" Leocasked, confused. "What are you doing here?"

Nemesis opened another cookie. "Lucky numbers. Ridiculous! That's not even a proper fortune!" She crushed the cookie in her hand and dropped the pieces at her feet.

"To answer your question, Leo Valdez, the gods are in terrible shape. It always happens when a civil war is brewing between you Romans and Greeks. The Olympians are torn between their two natures, called on by both sides. They become quite schizophrenic, I'm afraid. Splitting headaches. Disorientation."

"But we're not at war!" Leo insisted.

"Um, Leo…" Hazel winced, obviously not wanting to say whatever she was about to say. "Except for the fact that Octavian blew up large sections of New Rome and blamed it on the Greeks."

Leo stared at her, wounded. "That's not our fault! Those three idiots got possessed!"

"I know…" She continued to wince. "but the Romans don't know that. And they'll be pursuing us in retaliation."

Nemesis cackled once again sending chills down Lily's spine at the sound. "Leo, listen to the girl. War is coming. Gaea has seen to it, with your help. And can you guess whom the gods blame for their predicament?"

Leo and Hazel shared confused looks before Leo answered. "Octavian?"

The goddess snorted in a rather ungodly like way. "No, of course not. You're all just pieces on a chessboard, Leo Valdez. I was referring to the player who set this ridiculous quest in motion, bringing the Greeks and Romans together. The gods blame Hera or- Juno if you prefer! The queen of the heavens has fled Olympus to escape the wrath of her family. Don't expect any more help from your patron."

Leo looked like he had a headache. "So why are you here?"

"Why, to offer my help!" Nemesis gave a slightly terrifying smile. Lily glanced at Hazel. She looked distinctly unhappy with her offer.

Leo looked skeptical. "Your help."

"Of course!" the goddess chirped creepily. "I enjoy tearing down the proud and powerful, and there is none who deserve tearing down like Gaea and her giants. Still, I must warn you that will not suffer undeserved success. Good luck is a sham. The wheel of fortune is a Ponzi scheme. True success requires sacrifice."

Hazel looked furious all of sudden at those words. "Sacrifice?" She asked rhetorically, voice tight. "I lost my mother. I died and came back. Now my brother is missing. Isn't that enough sacrifice for you?"

Leo looked like he agreed with every word. "Right now, all I want is some Celestial Bronze."

"Oh, that's easy," Nemesis replied, looking put out that they hadn't asked for anything more. "It's over the rise. You'll find it with the sweethearts."

"Wait." Hazel looked hopelessly confused. "What sweethearts?"

Nemesis casually ate a fortune cookie whole, fortune and all. "You'll see. Perhaps they will teach you a lesson, Hazel Levesque. Most heroes cannot escape their nature, even when given a second chance at life. And speaking of your brother Nico, you don't have much time. Let's see… it's June twenty-fifth? Yes, after today, six more days. Then he dies, along with the entire city of Rome."

Hazel's eyes widened as she sucked in a shocked breath. "How… what-?"

"And as for you, child of fire, your worst hardships have yet to come." She informed Lily's father. "You will always be the outsider, the seventh wheel. You will not find a place among your brethren. Soon you will face a problem you cannot solve, though I could help you… for a price."

Leo's hand caught on fire for a few quick seconds before he stuffed his hand into his pocket to extinguish it. Hazel stared at him in horror. Leo cleared his throat. "I like to solve my own problems."

"Very well." She shrugged, brushing cookie dust off herself.

"But, um, what sort of price are we talking about?"

She shrugged again. "One of my children recently traded an eye for the ability to make a real difference in the world."

Leo looked horrified and disgusted. "You… want an eye?"

"In your case, perhaps another sacrifice would do. But something just as painful. Here." She tossed a cookie at him. "If you need an answer, break this. It will solve your problem."

Leo stared down at the cookie in his hand as if it were a live bomb. "What problem?"

"You'll know when the time comes."

"No, thanks."

The goddess turned to her next. "And you child, for the changes you make for the good of the world, you and your cousins will sacrifice something you might not be able to live without."

A cold feeling spread through Lily's body at her words. "What," she demanded. "What do we sacrifice?"

Nemesis tsked at her, wagging her finger. "Sorry, child, but you can't know that. Not right now."

Before Lily could ask another question, she cracked another cookie open and read the fortune but Lily tuned her out, thinking hard. What sacrifice would they make? What couldn't they live without? These thoughts circled around in her head until she forced herself to stop. She was going to have to call a family meeting for this one.


	12. Charlie VI

**(Charlie POV)**

Leaning against the railing as he scanned the area, Charlie was trying his hardest to ignore the bad feeling in his gut. It was how he always got when one of his cousins was on a quest without him. He stopped telling people about it after a while since everyone always said it was his mother hen tendencies kicking in. Charlie couldn't blame them though since he was admittedly the most overprotective person he knew.

Thankfully Lily was with Leo and Hazel so she would be fine. Charlie just always liked having his cousins in where he could see him or at least in the same building as him. He rolled his shoulders and winced at the dull pain in his left shoulder. Despite what he had told his family, it wasn't as good as he said it was. It was fully closed and scarred over but the muscles in his shoulder weren't as lucky.

Charlie knew he was lucky though, if anybody else had got this injury they would still be bedridden. The only reason he was up was because of the after effects of his father's swim in the river Styx, no one knew the exact science but Charlie got some advanced healing, extra speed and strength and an extremely high pain tolerance, way more than the average half-blood. They didn't figure it out until Charlie was four though; he had climbed a tree and proceeded to fall out of it, resulting in a broken arm. He hadn't cried or screamed though and gave Will a heart attack when he came in and calmly told him that he had fallen, holding his broken arm.

After that the Apollo cabin put him through various tests. Eventually they deduced that it was the fault of the Achilles curse Percy had at one point. His parents had been happy he was better protected while he only took it as incentive to train harder and longer.

Abruptly pulling himself from his head, Charlie whipped around to look at the island behind him and saw Arion racing towards the ship. He turned just as Arion trotted on to the ship. The three of them dismounted and Charlie couldn't help but stare at Leo. He had welding goggles on his head, slicked back hair, drawn on tattoos all over his arms, lipstick mark on his cheek and a T-Shirt that said Hot Stuff, Bad Boy, and Team Leo on it.

"Um, Uncle Leo? What the hell is… that?" Charlie asked as he gestured to his entire costume.

"Long story, I'm sure Lily will tell you later." He said as he dragged a large sheet of Celestial bronze of the horse's back. Charlie stepped over and helped carry it downstairs, passing Ethan and Zack on the way, both of them staring at Leo like he had grown an extra head.

They passed Jason's room and stopped in the doorway seeing that he was awake talking with Piper and Silena. The three of them stared at Leo like he had and Piper spoke up first. "Gods of Olympus." She said in surprise. "What happened to you?"

"Long story," He said once again. "Others back?"

"Not yet."

Leo cursed and noticed Jason was awake and lit up. "Hey, man! Glad you're better. I'll be in the engine room." And promptly took off with the bronze and Lily, disappearing down the hallway.

Piper turned to Hazel and raised an eyebrow at her " _Team Leo_?"

"We met Narcissus," Hazel said as if that explained everything. "Also Nemesis, the goddess of revenge."

Jason sighed, depressed. "I miss all the fun."

"How does that explain-" Charlie began to ask only to be cut off by a loud thud above us and his parents came running down the hall. Percy was carrying a big plastic bucket filled with some kind of steaming black substance that smelled terrible. Annabeth had it in her hair and Percy's shirt was covered in it.

"Roofing tar?" Piper dryly asked as Frank stumbled up behind them with a big smear of it down his face.

"Ran into some tar monsters," Annabeth said, lightly panting from exertion. "Hey, Jason, glad you're awake. Hazel, where's Leo?"

She pointed. "Engine room with Lily."

The entire ship listed to port. Everybody stumbled and Percy scrambled to keep his tar bucket from spilling everywhere. "Uh, what was that?" he demanded.

"Oh…" Hazel looked incredibly embarrassed. "We may have angered the nymphs who live in this lake. Like… all of them."

"You're kidding. Please tell me you're kidding." Charlie said hopefully, not wanting to deal with a lake full of pissed off nymphs. He saw her expression and hung his head in despair. "You're not kidding."

"Great." Percy said, handing Frank the tar bucket. "You guys help Leo. Charlie and I'll go hold off the water spirts for as long as we can."

"On it!" Frank promised.

Annabeth and Frank ran to the engine room whilst the Jackson boys ran back upstairs. Sprinting across the deck he realized just how many nymphs those three had managed to piss off. Several dozen water spirits were fifty feet away and closing in, shoving waves of water at their ship. Charlie glanced at his dad. "What's the play?"

He furrowed his brow and thought. "You start shoving back and I'll try talking to them."

Charlie gave a nod. "Got it, and if that doesn't work?"

"Then we better hope the others get the ship working soon." Percy gave him a smile. Charlie threw him a thumbs up and started forcing the waves back at the nymphs, careful that he didn't hurt them. Percy cleared his throat. "Excuse me ladies but can you please not destroy our ship?"

One nymph screamed back. "Those demigods stole Narcissus reflection! We're getting it back!"

Percy and Charlie shared a glance as they both wondered how one could steal another's reflection. "Um, I'm sure they had a good reason for it."

"What good reason is there for stealing Narcissus reflection! He'll leave if we don't get it back! So, GIVE IT BACK!" Another nymph yelled hysterically at the two of them, wearing an 'I heart Narcissus' T-Shirt.

Charlie sighed. "Dad? I don't think this is going to end peacefully." Percy nodded in resignation but before he could say anything Coach Hedge appeared.

"INVADERS!" He yelled waving his baseball bat around almost smacking Charlie in the face. "WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"

Charlie scowled, not wanting to deal with the shoot first ask questions later 'chaperone' of ours. "Coach shut up. Dad and I are dealing with it. Go back to your MMA championships."

"Quiet cupcake! I got this!" Hedge yelled.

"Hedge! We have this! Go. Back. Down." He snapped. Coach Hedge was only going to complicate this thing.

Hedge scowled at him and went to speak but Percy mercifully cut him off. "Do what he says Coach. We have this." Percy said firmly, putting out his hands and helping Charlie push the nymphs farther back. Before the argument could continue the ship sputtered into gear and lifted into the air. The rocking stopped and everything became quiet.

Charlie huffed before turning back to the coach. "Told you we had it."

He harrumphed and stalked downstairs.

Leo came up next with a raised eyebrow at Coach Hedge and how angry he was. "Meeting in the mess hall, one hour." He said shortly and pointed down. "I'm going to take a shower."

Charlie looked at him and registered the sweat, lime dust and tar that covered him and how his clothes were ripped to shreds. "Yeah, you go do that."He said, amused.

He gave Charlie a look and disappeared back downstairs. He turned back to Percy and looked at him, taking in the orange Camp Half-Blood shirt and jeans he had on. It was slightly disturbing to Charlie how alike the pair looked sometimes. People always said that if he dyed his hair jet black, he could be his dad's younger self and looking at him now Charlie had to agree. They had the same green eyes and tan skin; the same build and Charlie was maybe an inch shorter than him.

He was dragged out of his thinking when Percy lifted his hand and ruffled his son's hair. "How are you feeling?" He said with a warm look in his eyes.

Charlie gave a content half smile. "Pretty good surprisingly."

He nodded and said. "Well then, lets go annoy your mother, shall we?" with a mischievous look. Charlie grinned and nodded. The two of them jogged down stairs, Charlie thinking to himself ' _I could get used to this_.'

* * *

Settled in a chair with Zack to his left and Lily to his right, Charlie patiently waited for the meeting to start. As he glanced around the room he realized it was the first time in a long while it had just been the thirteen of them. The only people missing from the family table were Nico, Will, Reyna and Calypso. Hopefully they would all be together soon.

Leo was next to his daughter, the two of them fiddling with something together. Piper was next to him with Silena and Jason next her. Annabeth was next to him at the end of the table with Percy beside her. Frank next him and Emily and her mom next him. Ethan sat opposite of Charlie's mom with Zack on his right and Hazel on his left.

It had gotten a little tense when his dad and Jason tried to sit at the head of the table at the same time causing sparks to fly from Jason's hands and the water in people's cups to move. Piper and Annabeth both thankfully stopped the incoming fight by smacking their respective boyfriends on the back of the head and his mother sat in the chair before either of them could make another move for it. Charlie and Silena just traded looks and rolled their eyes at them.

Leo finished his story about Narcissus and glanced at the Kids thoughtfully. Charlie raised his eyebrow at him, curious to what he had to say next. "So, Lily, it's later. You mind telling the class about who you saw Nemesis as?" He casually asked, eyeing her in interest.

Lily froze looking like a deer in the headlights. "Uhhhhhh, I plead the fifth?"

Leo gave his daughter a look. "Nope, you said you wouldn't mind pushing them off a cliff, carino. Speak." He settled back in his chair and crossed his arms, waiting for his daughter to speak.

Charlie had to admit he was slightly curious himself, who did Lily loath enough to push off a cliff? The moment she spoke he regretted it instantly.

"Payton Lewis." She admitted, eyes narrowed and smoke rising from her hands.

Immediately a wave of anger rolled through him. Water from everybody's cups rocked and sloshed around in time with his heartbeat. Charlie had never wanted to kill anybody as much as he wanted to kill Payton Lewis. That bitch seriously injured a member of his family, his best friend. The only mercy he would show her would be if he killed her quick.

Getting a hold of himself again he glanced at the rest of his cousins. Silena had sparks flying off her while the smell ozone began to fill the room, Ethan was growling and clenching his fists, Zack had shadows surrounding him and was fondling the hilt of his sword, Emily was coated in potent magical energy with her eyes glowing a slight gold. The Parents looked startled as their children's powers reacted to the well of emotions inside of them.

Hazel and Frank put their arms around Emily and soothingly whispered to her, calming her down. Charlie's parents shot out of their seats toward him, Ethan had managed to wrangle in his emotions enough to lay a hand on Zack's shoulder and quietly started talking him into a calmer state of mind. Lily had her head buried in her arms on the table and was taking deep breaths while her dad ran his hand through her hair comfortingly. Silena was staring hard at a spot on the wall while her parents hugged her.

Charlie felt hands land on his shoulders and upper back and heard his mother quietly murmuring soothing words in his ear with Percy running his hand up and down Charlie's spine. Charlie took a deep breath and shoved his emotions back into their box, sitting up straight and waiting for everyone to calm down again. A few minutes passed before all of the Kids were calmed down and managed to gain control over our powers again. Everybody slowly moved back to their seats and waited for someone to explain.

Rolling his shoulders back, Charlie spoke up. "Payton Lewis was one of our best friends in the world. We met her just after I turned six. It was a year before Camp Jupiter was destroyed and everybody was living their lives happy and content. Emily had met her at the Roman camp and introduced her to us and we all became instant friends with her, Lily even considered her a best friend. She and Ethan dated as well for a little bit."

He looked at the Parents and saw they were enraptured in the story while his cousins just looked angry and hurt. "Around the time I was thirteen, a month after we were told we would be going to the past she started acting strange. Blowing off dates with Ethan and snapping at all of us, just generally being a hard person to be near. Then rumors started going around camp, about Ethan abusing Payton and how the rest of us egged him on. That secretly we were conspiring with the Titans to destroy camp, and that we were going to ensure that Gaea won instead of fixing Tartarus like we said we would."

"Thankfully not a lot of people believed her but some did. One even came up to Dad and had the balls to say that I was evil incarnate. We eventually deduced that it was Payton and never talked to her or about her again."

Charlie grimaced at what he was about to say, knowing it was going to push the Parents over the edge, especially Jason and Piper. "Then three months before we left for here, Silena was attacked in the middle of the night. Some broke into the Grace's house and into her room, put up a silencing ward and started slashing and cutting her. Before they left the house the stabbed her in the stomach twice and left her to bleed out."

The tension in the room skyrocketed and ozone once again filled the room as Jason had mini lightning surround him in response to his anger. Normally Piper would calm him down but she was too busy staring at their daughter in horror. He let out a shaky breath and continued. "Thankfully Ethan has the habit of taking nighttime walks because he saw a someone come out of your house with a bloodied knife in their hands and sprinted into the house after the person walked away."

"He managed to take down the silencing ward and screamed for a medic. They got there in time and managed to stabilize her. We scoured the camp and found a notebook in Payton's writing. It explained how it was Payton who attacked Silena and why she did it. You see her parents were on the Titan's side of the war during the Second Titan War but managed to keep it from everybody. So when they had Payton they raised her to be a solider for their cause and set us up. She was set to betray us from the moment we met her. Her reasoning for attacking Silena was that she was hoping to demoralize us. She left camp right after hurting Silena and we never saw her or heard from her again." He finished solemnly.

By this point in time Piper and Jason had themselves wrapped around their daughter again and trading murderous looks while the rest of the 'adults' looked completely horrified at the story.

"Oh, my sweet boy." Annabeth breathed as she stood and walked toward Charlie again, pulling him into a hug. Percy followed after her and joined in, dragging Zack in as well when he registered his expression.

Hazel grabbed Ethan and Emily into a hug as well while Frank stood behind them, resting his hands on their shoulders in comfort. Leo had Lily in a bear hug and was murmuring in Spanish in her ear. Everyone stayed in their respective dog piles for a long time; just soaking in the comfort they were being provided. Eventually everyone returned to their seats, a few with red rimmed eyes.

Leo cleared his throat and hoarsely asked "So where to now?" changing the subject so that everyone could calm down.

Percy picked at his completely blue pie depressively. "We need to put some distance between us and Camp Jupiter, Frank spotted some eagles over Salt Lake City. We figure the Romans aren't far behind us."

The mood around the table didn't improve in the slightest. Piper looked the littlest bit guilty about something. Charlie glanced at Silena and saw she was giving her mother a questioning look as well. "I don't suppose we should go back and try to reason with the Romans? Maybe… maybe I didn't try hard enough with the charmspeak." She said reluctantly.

Jason took her hand and squeezed it. "It wasn't your fault, Pipes. Whatever happened, it was Gaea's doing, to drive the two camps apart."

She bit her lip but continued. "Maybe if we could explain that, though- "

"With no proof?" his mother interrupted. "The only people who know what's going on are the Kids and they can't tell us for obvious reasons. I appreciate what you're saying, Piper. I don't want the Romans on our bad side, but until we understand what Gaea's up to, going back is suicide."

"She's right," Hazel said still looking nauseous but was snacking on a few saltines to help. Charlie couldn't tell if it was from their story earlier or seasickness.

"Reyna might listen but Octavian will try his best to cut us off and spin the story. The Romans have honor to think about. They've been attacked. They'll shoot first and ask questions later, which is exactly what Octavian will want." Hazel finished.

Piper sighed and nodded. "You're right, we have to keep going. Not just because of the Romans. We have to hurry."

Hazel nodded back. "Nemesis said we have only six days to save until Nico dies and Rome is destroyed."

Jason frowned. "You mean Rome Rome, not New Rome?"

"I think so," She said looking concerned. "But if so, that's not much time."

Percy got a contemplative look on his face "Why six days? And how are they going to destroy Rome?"

No one answered. The Parents didn't because they didn't know and the Kids because they couldn't without seriously messing with the timeline. Piper cleared her throat. "There's more, I've been seeing things in my knife."

Frank froze with his mouth open, a forkful of spaghetti paused in its journey to his mouth. "Things such as…?"

"They don't really make sense," She said with a shrug. "Just garbled images, but I saw two giants, dressed alike. Maybe twins."

Annabeth stared at the video feed of camp on the wall in thought. "Twins, like in Ella's prophecy. If we could figure out those lines, it might help."

"Wisdom's daughter walks alone," Percy quoted, slightly irritated. "The Mark of Athena burns through Rome. Annabeth, that's got to mean you, Juno told me… well, she said you had a hard task ahead of you in Rome. She said she doubted you could do it. But I know she's wrong."

Annabeth didn't look any less worried at that statement. "Reyna was about to tell me something right before the ship fired on us. She said it might be the reason Greeks and Romans could never get along."

Leo and Hazel shared uneasy looks. "Nemesis mentioned something similar." Leo said, absentmindedly running his hand up and down Lily's spine at the mention of the goddess. "She talked about an old score that had to be settled."

Hazel took over from there, playing with Emily's hair. "The one thing that might bring the gods' two natures into harmony, an old wrong finally avenged."

His dad drew a frowny face into his blue whipped cream sulkily. "I was only a praetor for about two hours. Jason, you ever hear a legend like that?"

Jason fidgeted slightly. "I… uh, I'm not sure. I'll give it some thought."

Percy narrowed his eyes at the rather horrible lie and deadpanned. "You're not sure?"

Jason stayed silent. Charlie looked at Silena and silently told her 'Your dad is a terrible liar.'

She shrugged slightly and gave him a silent look back. 'It's endearing, besides not everyone can bluff their way out of everything like us.' Charlie pursed his lips and gave her a raised eyebrow 'It's sad is what it is. It physically pains me watching him trying to lie.' She rolled her eyes and told him to pay attention. He pouted but did as she said, Jason having just asked Frank about killing a giant in Alaska.

"Alcyoneus was a special case," Frank replied. "He was only immortal in the territory he was reborn in, which was Alaska, but not in Canada. I wish I could kill all the giants by dragging then across the border from Alaska into Canada, but Percy's right, we'll need the gods."

"So…" Leo said, pushing his chair from the table. "First things first, I guess. We'll have to put down in the morning to finish repairs."

Sensing the meeting was about to end Charlie stood up and stretched as Annabeth threw out parameters of where we should land. He ignored the questioning look from their parents as his cousins followed him out the door as Charlie led them down to the stables so that they could have their own talk.

Sitting back down, this time leaned against the wall facing the door he waited for them to get comfortable before starting them off. "Alright, firecracker, what did you leave out from the adults?" Charlie asked, having a hunch that she didn't say everything in that meeting.

It was a testament at how well they knew each other that she didn't even try to deny it. "Nemesis told me something at that beach." He was startled at how grim she looked and his concern shot up. Ethan beat him to the punch by demanding what it was. She bit her lip and recited what the goddess told her. "For the changes you make for the good of the world, you and your cousins will sacrifice something you might not be able to live without."

An icy cold ran through his body, turning his blood to mush as she said it. His thoughts raced through his mind as he thought up and discarded ideas at the speed of light. Charlie kept circling back to the 'something you might not be able to live without' part.

Emily looked terrified. "What if she means our parents?"

Silena, Ethan and he shook their heads instantly, Silena hugging her tightly. "That wouldn't work, Shortstack. If they died before having us it would negate everything we change." Charlie told her, hoping to calm her and a scared looking Zack down. It must of worked because their expressions eased away from 'terrified' back to 'nervous'. Zack came over and cuddled into him, making his protective instincts kick in and Charlie wrapped his arm around the thirteen year olds shoulder tightly.

Lily and Ethan were next to each other, Lily with her head on his shoulder and Ethan resting his head on hers. "Okay then what? Because I don't like the sound of that stupid fortune." Lily spat, looking fierce.

Charlie sighed and exchanged looks with Silena telling her she could answer this one. "Look guys it might be nothing okay? Let's just calm down and go to sleep. We'll worry about this later." Silena said as she ran her fingers through Emily's hair.

"But Lena," Zack protested. "We need to figure out what it means!"

She gave him a look. "Exactly, which is why we will talk about it. Later."

He pouted but conceded the point, snuggling farther into his chest. Charlie tossed his other arm around him and held him there. They held a comfortable silence for ten minutes until they heard Coach Hedge start screaming about it being "sleepy time cupcakes!" They all sighed and started to get up. Zack however held Charlie tighter and refused to move, citing that he was too comfortable to get up.

He stared down at him with an exasperated look for a second before he sighed dramatically and moved him around until Charlie could easily toss him over his shoulder, pleasantly surprised that he didn't have any more pain in it. Charlie heard and felt him giggle tiredly as he walked toward Leo's cabin to dump him on his bed. The duo passed Percy who took one look at them and started laughing.

Charlie felt Zack lift his head and presumably stick his tongue out since his dad did the same right back at him. Charlie grumbled about being surrounded by immature children as he walked into the cabin and saw Leo already in there. He gave the two an amused look as Charlie dropped Zack on his feet and ordered him to bed. He gave a sarcastic salute and went about his nighttime routine. Charlie backed out of the room after telling Leo goodnight.

Charlie shuffled into his and Percy's shared cabin and fell into his bed, asleep before his head hit the pillow. Some days he swore he won't live past thirty with how much stress he had on him. Well, at least his parents had it worst than him, Charlie didn't have kids.


	13. Charlie VII

**(Charlie POV)**

Being awake at four am had its perks. The only one up was Ethan who was silently observing the stars next to Charlie. This was normal for the both of them seeing as neither one slept more than five hours at a time. Ethan because of his nightmares and Charlie because he generally didn't need more than that.

Still there was a sort of peace to being up this early, where it seemed as if everything was asleep and for that moment in time everything was fine. It also made him think of subjects he normally wouldn't. Looking up at the stars made him do so even more, especially when they were up this high and he could see everything. Charlie could see the constellation that represented Zoe, a fallen hunter his dad had gotten to know when he rescued Artemis and Annabeth from Atlas, an evil Titan.

Charlie's baby sister was named after her. Zoe Michelle Jackson was his five year old terror of a sister that he had left behind when he went to the past. Originally they were going to bring all of their siblings with but it just wasn't feasible. They couldn't do what they needed to do and still watch over their younger siblings. So in the end they left them behind with their parents. Zoe was his younger sister but the others had some as well.

Silena had her little brother Louis who was six and followed Charlie around like a puppy most days, Lily had a younger sister, Gabriela who was three and spread chaos and fear everywhere, Ethan had seven month old twin baby brothers Alejandro and Andre, both of whom were adorable, and Zack had a little sister as well, Gemma who was two and an absolute angel. Emily was the single only child among our group.

Charlie tipped his head back and sighed, gaining a questioning look from Ethan that he ignored for the moment. Thinking of their siblings just made him miss home that much more despite all the dangers that came from being in that time. Plus none of them had told their parents about them yet, mostly because they had no idea how they could tell them that not only did they have one kid but two or three depending on the family.

Charlie sighed once again causing Ethan to roll his eyes and smack his arm, telling Charlie to either tell him the problem or stop with his BS sighing. Charlie aimed a pout at him but elaborated. "I'm just thinking about our siblings." Charlie explained.

He sobered up and gave an understanding nod. "Yeah, I have been too. Mostly about how the hell we're going to tell the Parents."

"Yeah, that's my worry too. I just don't want to tell them and then have 'em freak out, you know?" Charlie said, tired in a way that was caused by stress instead of physical exertion.

Ethan shared Charlie's exact expression as his fingers began to tap restlessly against his thigh. "I say there's an 80 percent chance they take it in stride and a 20 percent chance they flip out." He said somewhat unhelpfully.

Charlie grunted. "Well we're going to have to-" He was suddenly cut off by a high pitched scream that he recognized as Lily. Ethan and Charlie shared a worried look as they rolled to their feet and sprinted down the stairs at breakneck speeds. The two stopped at Lily and Annabeth's shared cabin and elbowed their way past Annabeth who was worriedly hovering over Lily.

Charlie couldn't help but wince as he sat on the bed and grabbed a hold of Lily who was thrashing and whimpering, terrified by whatever she saw in her dreams. He pulled her into his chest and began to soothingly run his fingers through her hair, gently trying to wake her up. He distantly heard Ethan drag Annabeth out of the room and begin explaining to her and the other Parents what was going on.

Charlie looked up when he felt the bed dip on Lily's other side and gave a grim look toward Silena. She sent him one back and rubbed the shaking girl in his arms' back. As she did so Charlie felt Lily's breath begin evening out, indicating she was waking up.

He glanced down and saw her blearily blink her eyes at him as she snuggled impossibly deeper into his sternum. Charlie ignored the uncomfortable position she was in and quietly talked to her. "Hey firecracker, how are you doing?" He asked in a concerned voice, registering and promptly ignoring the door opening. He knew it was the rest of his cousins as the three of them settled themselves around him, Silena and Lily.

Lily frowned and blinked back residual tears left behind from her nightmare. "I'm… not great but I'm not hurt or anything."

Charlie nodded in understanding; after all with the night terrors all of them had they could never be classified as 'great'. "Think you can go back to sleep if one of us stays with you?"

She got a pondering look on her face at his question for a few moments before nodding. "Can Ethan stay with me?"

Charlie pushed down the amusement he felt at her request, she and Ethan had the same kind of bond Emily and Zack had with each other. They were twins that just weren't born together or to the same parents. He would know considering he and Silena had the same one. Charlie nodded and obediently moved from his spot only for Ethan to take it a half second later. Charlie herded the others out of the room and gave the duo on the bed a final once over before walking out the door, seeing them already settling into a comfortable position to sleep.

He gently shut the door behind him and looked at the Parents, grimacing at the half tried- half worried expressions on their faces and Leo pacing a little. Holding up his hand as Frank opened his mouth to say something Charlie pointed down the hall and ushered them away from the room.

Retreating to the mess hall he immediately started talking, not letting the 'adults' get a word in edgewise. "Yes Lily is fine. No the ship isn't in any danger. Yes all of us kids have nightmares like that. Usually we're pretty quiet about it but we do have bad nights as you've just heard." Charlie took a deep breath, surprised he was able to get that whole spiel out.

The Parents looked marginally less worried and Leo asked "Lily's going to be okay right?" looking protective and slightly chagrined that they hadn't let him in the room.

Silena took over for him. "She's going to be fine; I think talking about Payton today just brought up some bad memories."

Leo nodded his head, finally relaxing his tense frame. Charlie's mother though took on a suspicious look. "You said you all have nightmares like that. What about?"

All four of them winced and Zack spoke up next. "That's not exactly a topic we need to talk about at four in the morning."

Annabeth reluctantly nodded and everyone began to disperse back to their rooms, Percy telling Annabeth she could bunk with the two of them for the remainder of the morning. Charlie ruffled Emily's hair as they shuffled back to their rooms, trailing after the Parents. She grumbled and swatted at his hand, yawning loudly.

"Get some sleep, Shortstack." Charlie told her, concern rising mildly in him when she didn't even complain about the nickname. Still he walked back into his and Percy's room and fell back on his bed, resolving to get at least another half hour of sleep.

As he tumbled back into dreamland, Charlie had one last tired thought. ' _Things were going to get interesting from here on out_.'

* * *

Standing at the railing beside his parents, Charlie couldn't help but smile at seeing how happy his mom looked curled slightly into his dad with his arm tossed over her shoulder. There was a returned light in her eyes that Charlie hadn't even realized was missing until it came back. Seeing Percy's happy expression as well Charlie knew he felt the same way.

He saw Piper walk up to them and apparently note Annabeth's glee at Percy being back as well since Charlie saw her hide a small smile. Annabeth snatched the bagel out of her hands in retaliation and start speaking after taking a bite out of it. "So, here we are. What's the plan?"

"I want to check out that highway," Piper said, getting down to business. "Find the sign that says Topeka 32."

Leo spun his Wii controllers and the sails lowered themselves automatically. "We shouldn't be too far. Festus and I calculated the landing as best as we could. What do you expect to find at the mile marker?"

She proceeded to explain about what her knife showed her and Percy immediately began sulking as Jason spoke up. "Purple shirt?" He asked thoughtfully. "Vines on his hat? Sounds like Bacchus."

"Dionysus," Percy grumbled, irritated. "If we came all the way to Kansas to see _Mr. D-_ "

Jason cut him off before he could finish his apparent threat. "Bacchus isn't so bad. I don't like his followers much though." Leo and Piper shuddered in unison at some shared memory they had with Jason. "But the god himself is okay," he continued. "I did him a favor once up in the wine country."

Percy just looked appalled causing Charlie and his cousins to snicker at his dramatics. "Whatever, man. Maybe he's better on the Roman side. But why would he be hanging around Kansas? Didn't Zeus order the gods to cease all contact with mortals?"

Charlie coughed to get his attention. "Dad, you've been dealing with gods for what? Five, Six years now? The gods never follow orders, you know that."

He begrudgingly nodded at Charlie's logic. Leo took over from there. "Sounds dangerous! Well… you guys have fun. I've got to finish repairs on the hull. Coach Hedge is gonna work on the broken crossbows. And, uh, Annabeth, I could really use your help. You're the only other person besides Lily who even sort of understands engineering."

Annabeth looked at Percy apologetically. "He's right. I should stay and help."

He gave her a grin and kissed her cheek sweetly. "I'll come back to you. Promise." Charlie gave a crooked smile towards them, happy to see that even in twenty years despite wars, life and kids they would still act the same.

Frank took his bow off his shoulder and propped it against the railing. "I think I should turn into a crow or something and fly around, keep an eye out for Roman eagles."

"Why a crow?" Leo asked, genuinely curious. Charlie would have thought he was giving Frank shit had Lily not told him that she had explained to her father about Sammy, and that he would meet Calypso soon. She didn't mention her by name, just that he would find her on the quest. "Man, if you can turn into a dragon, why don't you just turn into one every time? That's the coolest." He finished semi excitedly.

Frank unfortunately didn't take the compliment for what it was and turned an unattractive shade of red. "That's like asking why you don't bench-press your maximum weight every time you lift. Because it's hard, and you'd hurt yourself. Turning into a dragon isn't easy."

"Oh." Leo nodded in understanding. "I wouldn't know. I don't lift weights." He offered with a shrug.

"Yeah. Well, maybe you should consider it, Mr. - " Emily interrupted him with a smack to his head after correctly interpreting the look Charlie shot her. Frank's hand flew to the back of his head as he stared at his daughter in shock. Emily simply crossed her arms and gave him a look.

Hazel took over from there, giving him a look as well that told him he was in trouble. He hung his head slightly but accepted the fact that he was in the dog house so to speak with his daughter and girlfriend. "Come on, Frank, I'll help you. I can summon Arion and scout below." She 'suggested' to him in a way that said she was doing it no matter what he said. Percy and Jason gave sympathetic looks but stayed quiet out of fear that then they'd be in trouble with their significant others if they opened their mouths.

"Okay, thanks." He said, accepting his fate. That fate being him getting yelled at later.

Hazel turned to Percy next, causing him to inch behind Annabeth slightly, half joking but half genuinely afraid. Annabeth just huffed a laugh and muttered "Grow a pair, you big baby." To him, resulting in Charlie's laughter as Percy pouted.

Hazel gave them amused looks but continued. "Just be careful when you go out there. Lots of fields, lots of crops, could be _karpoi_ on the loose."

Piper looked confused. " _Karpoi_?"

"Grain spirits," Hazel patently explained. "You don't want to meet them."

Piper still looked confused but appeared to take Hazel's warning seriously.

Percy threw his two cents in finally. "That leaves three of us left to check on the mile marker; Me, Jason Piper. I'm not psyched about seeing Mr. D again. That guy is a pain. But Jason, if you're on better terms with him- "

Jason was already nodding in agreement. "Yeah, if we find him, I'll talk to him. Piper, it's your vision. You should take the lead."

Piper looked decidedly not pleased with that but accepted anyway. "Of course, now let's find a highway."

Charlie shared a quick look with Silena and Ethan and made a spur of the moment decision. "I'll go with you three." He volunteered himself.

Annabeth frowned. "Why? Does something happen?"

Charlie bit his lip before shrugging. "I just want to hang out with Dad." he hoped they would believe it. Everyone but his parents and Piper did but they thankfully didn't call him out on it, instead just accepting his reasoning.

Charlie cracked his knuckles and psyched himself up for this mini trip, already preparing how he would knock out hid dad and Jason before they could do any damage to each other. Annabeth and Piper would forgive him for hurting their boyfriends' right? Charlie was their son and nephew respectively so they wouldn't be too mad. He hoped.

* * *

Leo needed to work on his definition of 'close' considering he dropped them nearly nine miles from where they were supposed to actually be. After walking through hotter than hell fields, getting bitten by mosquitoes and slapped by sunflowers, they were all understandable annoyed. Miraculously after walking half a mile they finally reached a road. Sadly it told them they were still eight miles from their destination.

Percy heaved a sigh. "Correct my math but doesn't that sign say we have eight miles to walk?" He asked rhetorically. Everyone knew that was exactly what the sign said; they just didn't want to accept it.

Jason ignored Percy's question. "No cars… but I guess we don't want to hitchhike either." He said, absently swatting at a mosquitoes on his neck.

"No," Piper agreed, glancing at the highway nervously. "We've already spent too much time going overland. The earth is Gaea's territory."

"Hmm…" Jason hummed before snapping his fingers as if he had just solved some complicated mathematical problem. "I can call a friend for a ride."

Percy raised his eyebrows at impromptu challenge. "Oh, yeah? Me too. Let's see whose friend gets here first."

Piper and he shared an eye roll at the way the two of them were busting each other's balls. ' _I mean come on, really? We were here to meet a wine god about twin giants; did these two idiots really need to have a who's the better hero contest?_ ' Charlie thought.

The four of them patiently waited for Tempest and Blackjack after their respective whatever they called themselves asked for them. Thunder abruptly crackled in the clear sky and Jason smiled triumphantly. "Soon."

Percy smugly pointed east, where a black winged horse was approaching fast. "Too late."

Charlie couldn't help the smile that spread over his face as he saw him. Annabeth had introduced Charlie to him a week before they left and Blackjack had immediately adopted Charlie after he gave him a couple donuts when Charlie met him, having heard the stories from everyone about how if you gave him one he would love you forever. It was true.

"A black pegasus?" Piper asked slightly startled. "Never seen one like that."

Blackjack landed and trotted over to Charlie and Percy, nuzzling their faces with a whine before turning to look at Piper and Jason curiously. _'Who are these guys?_ ' Blackjack asked.

Percy immediately answered. "Blackjack, this is Jason and Piper. They're friends."

 _'Okay_.' He said before excitedly begging us for donuts.

"Uh, maybe later." Percy said as Charlie dug into his bag looking for the Ziploc he had put some donuts in for the Pegasus.

"Got it!" Charlie said as he pulled it out, automatically opening it and feeding Blackjack one when he did his version of puppy dog eyes. Percy gave a mildly disapproving look as Blackjack sang Charlie's praises and promised to not drop him ' _not that I was going to of course but now I will definitely make sure not too._ ' Charlie just rubbed his flank and sent his dad a mischievous look.

"Donuts?" Piper raised an eyebrow.

Percy shrugged. "They're his favorite. He can carry three of us if- "

The air turned cold and Charlie's ears popped all of a sudden. A horse materialized next to Jason, who grinned widely. "Tempest, long time my friend." He said, rubbing the horse's nose.

Tempest reared and whinnied causing Blackjack to back up skittishly. Charlie soothingly rubbed his side as Percy shushed him. "Easy boy," Percy said calmly. "He's a friend too." He then gave Jason an impressed look. "Nice ride, Grace."

Jason shrugged and explained how he got him while Charlie eyed the horse distrustfully. He had tried to ride him with Silena once when they were eight and the horse had proceeded to buck the both of them off its back. Neither of them were hurt but his relationship with that thing was pretty much nonexistent from then on so Charlie didn't really want to go near him.

Charlie let Percy get on Blackjack first before climbing up behind him, loosely wrapping his arms around his waist. Like a gunshot went off, the two animals took off and barreled down the road, Blackjack kicking up into the air a few seconds later.

Charlie laughed and put his arms out, feeling the wind rush past us. His dad turned to look at him and shook his head with a chuckle. Charlie just grinned at him, he had missed doing this. When Charlie was little Percy would always pack a bag, grab him, and later Zoe when she was born, take them out for a ride on Blackjack, and they would be gone for hours at a time. They were some of the best memories Charlie had of him and his dad.

Sadly the ride ended sooner rather than later and they landed at the thirty two mile marker. Charlie curiously looked around but couldn't see where Bacchus was. ' _Where's the wine dude? I don't see him._ ' Blackjack whinnied.

"You're right," Percy said. "No sign of the wine dude at all."

"I beg your pardon." Said an outraged voice from the fields to their left. The horses whipped around; causing Charlie to hastily tighten his grip on his dad otherwise he would fall off. Percy's hand squeezed his for a second before letting go. "Did someone just call me the wine dude?" He asked eyeing Charlie and his dad with distaste. Charlie bit his tongue to make sure he would keep his mouth shut. Annabeth always said that if anything was his fatal flaw, it was his runaway mouth.

"It's Bacchus, please." The wine dude continued. "Or Mr. Bacchus. Or Lord Bacchus. Or, sometimes, Oh-My-Gods-Please-Don't-Kill-Me, Lord Bacchus."

Charlie and Percy shared unimpressed looks as Percy urged an unwilling Blackjack forward. "You look different," Percy informed the wine god. "Skinnier. Your hair is longer. And your shirt isn't so loud."

The god squinted up at them and appeared to deliberate if Percy was insulting him or not. "What in blazes are you talking about? Who are you, and where is Ceres?"

"Uh…what series?" Percy asked in confusion.

"I think he means Ceres," Jason mercifully explained. "The goddess of agriculture. You'd call her Demeter." He then turned and respectfully nodded at the wine god. "Lord Bacchus, do you remember me? I helped you with that missing leopard in Sonoma."

Bacchus scratched his stubbly chin in thought. "Ah…yes. John Green."

Jason took it like a champ and just calmly corrected him. "Jason Grace."

"Whatever," the god said, already dismissing the name. "Did Ceres send you, then?"

"No, Lord Bacchus," Jason said. "Were you expecting to meet her here?"

Bacchus snorted as if what he said was hilarious. "Well, I didn't come to Kansas to party, my boy. Ceres asked me here for a council of war. What with Gaea rising, the crops are withering. Droughts are spreading. The _karpoi_ are in revolt. Even my grapes aren't safe. Ceres wanted a united front in the plant war."

"The plant war," Percy said skeptically. "You're going to arm all the little grapes with tiny assault rifles?" Charlie snorted and buried his head into his dad's shoulder, trying his best not to cackle. Percy always picked the worst times to make wise cracks. He squeezed Charlie's hand again, silently telling him to keep quiet. Charlie squeezed back, telling him to stop being such a smartass.

Charlie felt the god narrow his eyes at the two of them. "Have we met?"

"At Camp Half-Blood," Percy said nonchalantly. "I know you as Mr. D- Dionysus." Charlie winced as Percy said the god's Greek name, resulting in his image flickering. His appearance changed to show a fatter, rattier person in a horrendously loud leopard print shirt. Then he turned back into Bacchus.

"Stop that!" He demanded angrily. "Stop thinking about me in Greek."

Percy blinked in shock. "Uh, but- "

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to stay focused? Splitting headaches all the time! I never know what I'm doing or where I'm going! Constantly grumpy!" Bacchus raged hilariously.

"That sounds pretty normal for you." Percy shrugged. Charlie bit his lip hard and muffled his giggles. This was the reason his mom always said that the two of them were incorrigible together. Catching Piper's horrified look just made him want to laugh harder.

The wine dude didn't find it nearly as funny as Charlie did, as was apparent when one of the grape leaves on his hat burst into flames. "If we know each other from that other camp, it's a wonder I haven't already turned you into a dolphin." Bacchus said disdainfully as his nostrils flared.

Percy was quick to reassure him. "It was discussed; I think you were just too lazy to do it." Charlie slapped a hand over his mouth as Piper interrupted the train wreck of a conversation Percy and the wine god was having.

"Lord Bacchus!" She said as she slipped off Tempest's back. Percy tried to take Charlie's hand off his mouth, causing Charlie to grip harder. Charlie was sure that if Percy kept talking he really would be turned into a dolphin, and Charlie couldn't exactly be born if that happened now could he? Plus Annabeth would be furious, and if you weren't afraid of that, then you were an idiot.

Percy gave up after he realized Charlie wasn't letting go and they just sat like that, watching Piper charm Bacchus. Piper explained to the god about the Argo ll and about the quest to stop the giants. He looked distinctly unimpressed the longer she talked. His expression didn't change much either when she mentioned the silver goblet her knife showed Bacchus giving her.

"Silver goblet?" He asked as he grabbed a Diet Pepsi from nowhere, popping the top.

Charlie's grip on Percy's mouth must have slackened because he wrenched his jaw from Charlie's grasp gently and spoke up about the gods' choice of beverage. "You drink Diet Coke." He said sounding confused. Charlie tried to reapply his hand to Percy's mouth but he dodged and grabbed both of Charlie's hands, forcing them to stay in front of their bodies.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Bacchus snapped, irritated. "As to this vision of the goblet, young lady, I have nothing for you to drink unless you want a Pepsi. Jupiter has put me under strict orders to avoid giving wine to minors. Bothersome, but there you have it. As for the giants, I know them well. I fought in the first Giant War, you know."

"You can fight?" Percy asked in an astonished tone.

Charlie jerked his hands out of his grip and slapped his shoulder hard, hissing at him. "Shut your pie hole!" He sent Charlie a wounded look over his shoulder as Bacchus snarled, making his Diet Pepsi transform into a five foot staff encircled with ivy, with a pinecone adorned to the top of it.

"A thyrsus!" Piper cried, probably hoping to distract the god from Charlie's too-snarky-for-his-own-good father. "Oh, what a mighty weapon!"

"Indeed," Bacchus agreed, calmed slightly by Piper's false admiration of his weapon. "I'm glad someone in your group is smart." Charlie took offense to this portion of his sentence. "The pinecone is a fearsome tool of destruction! I was a demigod myself in the first Giant War, you know. The son of Jupiter!" Jason gave a minute flinch and Charlie winced in sympathy. He would feel horrified if the wine dude was his older brother too.

The god swung his staff through the air, overbalanced and almost tripped over his own feet. "Of course that was long before I invented wine and became an immortal. I fought side by side with the gods and some other demigod…Harry Cleese, I think."

"Heracles?" Piper politely suggested.

"Whatever," The wine god grumbled. "Anyway, I killed the giant Ephialtes and his brother Otis. Horrible boors, those two. Pinecone in the face for both of them!"

Charlie decided to look around the area and slipped off Blackjacks back, giving his dad a thumbs up when Percy glanced back at him in concern. He nodded and turned his attention back to Piper and Bacchus. Charlie ignored the conversation behind him as he slowly walked a few feet away to look at something that had caught his attention.

It was a piece of shiny paper, no bigger than a napkin. He turned it over and was startled by what it was. It was a picture of him and his cousins that had been taken two months after Alejandro and Andre were born. It was taken in front of the Big House on the steps. Silena, Lily and he were standing on the porch with their respective siblings perched on their hips, Zack and Emily were sitting on the steps by their feet with Gemma seated between them and Ethan was sitting on the grass, leaning on the steps with his legs spread, the twins lying in the space between his legs on a blanket, all of them with content smiles on their faces.

It was the Parents favorite picture of the Kids since their were all happy and healthy in it. So why was it lying in a Kansas highway twenty years before it was taken?

Charlie popped up and whirled around looking at the fields in paranoia, clenching the picture in his hand. He didn't get to look very far when he heard Jason yell something. "Lord Bacchus, wait!" He called frantically. The god ignored him and disappeared to the sound of a soda-can being opened. Charlie jogged back over to the three of them, stuffing the picture into his back pocket, resolving to talk to his cousins about it later.

"What the hell happened?" Charlie demanded as soon as he was in speaking range. Percy just gave him a 'not now' gesture as Piper said something.

"Bacchus is right," She said uneasily. "We need to leave- "

 _Too late,_ a sleepy voice seemed to coo in his ear, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Jason and Percy drew their swords as Charlie hastily grabbed Piper and pulled her into his side, drawing his own sword as well.

 _Welcome to my party,_ Gaea continued as her power suddenly encompassed everything around us. Every nerve in his body lit up as he tensed further, drawing every ounce of power Charlie had and putting it into his senses. _What did Bacchus say?_ The goddess continued, her voice pouring over him like honey, trying her best to dull his abilities. Charlie gritted his teeth and pushed back, needing to protect his family which meant keeping all of the power he had.

_A simple, low-key affair with organic snacks? Yes. For my snacks, I need only two: the blood of a female demigod, and the blood of a male. Piper, my dear, choose which hero will die with you._

Charlie snarled to himself at her words; like hell would he allow any of his family members to die! Charlie set himself in a defensive position and continued to glance around them, waiting for something to pop up and attack them.

"Gaea!" Jason yelled in a furious tone. "Stop hiding in the wheat. Show yourself!"

 _Such bravado,_ Gaea admired. But the other one, Percy Jackson, also has appeal. _Choose, Piper McLean, or I will._

Piper looked terrified and nauseous at the goddess's words. Charlie couldn't blame her, he felt nauseous at what Gaea was talking about and she hadn't even acknowledged his existence yet. Still he had to Piper give props when she got a hold of herself and yelled back.

"You're insane!" She hollered at the fields. "I'm not choosing anything for you!"

Jason gave a sudden gasp and sat up straight. Charlie immediately knew he had been taken over by one of the Eidolons and Percy had been as well. Charlie gripped Piper's arm and dragged her to the side of the road, out of the way.

"Jason!" Piper cried, struggling to get out of Charlie's hold. "What's wrong with you?" He glanced down at them, showing them his blank expression and glowing gold eyes. Charlie knew then that the trouble had only just started. "Percy, help!" She tried again, this time with Charlie's dad. He just galloped away and stopped thirty feet down the road, raised his sword and pointed the tip at Jason.

" _One will die,_ " He said in a voice that wasn't his own. It was too deep and harsh, nothing like the soothing voice that had always been directed at Charlie.

 _"I will choose,_ " Jason said in the same voice as Percy.

"No!" Piper screamed as the two demigods charged each other. Charlie took a deep breath and lunged, hoping that Annabeth wouldn't be too mad at him for what he was about to do. ' _Sorry Dad and Uncle Jason,_ ' Charlie thought grimly. ' _But this is necessary_.'


	14. Piper I

**(Piper POV)**

Watching Charlie tackle Percy off of Blackjack was horrifying to witness. Not just him performing the act, but the expression he got when he made the decision to do it, the absolute determination of what he was about to do. The only thing running through Piper's mind was ' _Annabeth is going to kill me_.'

After all, not only had her boyfriend been possessed on her watch but now her son was throwing himself in the middle of duel between a son of Jupiter and a son of Poseidon. He was going to get himself _killed_. The two demigods had charged at each other but before they made contact Charlie had leapt at his father and executed an impressive body slam, resulting in Percy getting knocked to the ground. Blackjack whinnied and sprinted into the wheat fields.

Charlie quickly rolled to his feet and made a slashing motion at Tempest. The spirit horse reared away from the bronze blade, nearly dislodging his rider. Charlie calmly followed and started to speak. "Uncle Jason, I know you can hear me. Don't let that thing control you." He said, narrowing his eyes when Jason gave no reaction to his words. Percy rolled over and climbed to his feet mechanically, causing Charlie to spare a glance at him and flip his stance so he had both possessed boys in his field of vision.

"Come on Dad, please fight this. I don't want to hurt you." He tried again, this time with Percy, again gaining no reaction. He groaned and muttered something to himself before lunging once again at Percy. The father-son duo traded blows, neither of them getting a real hit on the other. Then Jason decided to get in on the fight and rode in, aiming for Percy. She finally broke out of her immobile state and screamed out.

"Stop it!" Piper yelled at the top of her lungs.

Jason wavered instantly, the tip of his sword drooping. Percy, unfortunately, didn't and smacked Jason off Tempest. He thankfully turned his sword- maybe on purpose, maybe accidently- so the flat of the blade hit him in the middle of his chest. Charlie swore and once again engaged his father in combat, making the hits harder and harder to dodge. Jason, after a moment, got to his feet and roared. A bolt of lightning arced out of the sky and hit his blade, redirecting itself to Percy. Charlie, with a speed Piper didn't know he had, leapt in front of it, taking the hit for Percy. He was blasted back five feet, flipping head over heels until he landed roughly on his back and didn't move.

"Charlie!" Piper screamed, rushing towards her nephew. A figure got there first and she realized it was Percy, who was on his knees next to his son, a hand on his neck checking his pulse. He snapped his head up when she got closer, and Piper was startled to see his eyes had shifted back to the sea green it usually was instead of the gold it had become.

"Percy? Is he okay?" Piper asked hesitantly, backing away when his eyes narrowed at a point over her shoulder, leaving the question unanswered. He flew to his feet and stalked over to Jason with deadly intent. Piper scrambled after him and started yelling. "Percy, stop! It wasn't his fault! Something's controlling him!" she called, hoping to prevent the murder she knew Percy was planning.

Percy faltered and glanced back at her, his eyes back to being gold again. Piper helplessly watched as he turned back to Jason and the two of them made a move towards one another. They didn't get very far before two large shields made entirely out of water slammed into their heads, knocking them off their feet. Piper gawked and spun around to see Charlie standing up, hand outstretched with his shirt smoking and a burst underground pipe spraying water to his right. He gave her a glance, making a frustrated expression as his green eyes darkened.

"Will you do something? Cause I'm tired of getting the shit kicked out of me." He growled, making another motion with his hand. Hearing a _smack_ behind her, Piper realized he must've used the water again. She nodded hurriedly and spun to face the boys. They were on the ground, being restrained by the water that Charlie controlled. Percy, though, was obviously fighting him for control over it and Piper knew she had to do something or the situation was going to go from bad to worse.

"Who are you?" Piper demanded, looking at Jason.

His mouth twisted into a very non Jason looking smile. " _We are the eidolons. We will live again_."

"Eidolons…? You're some type of ghost?" Piper asked, running through all the monsters she had learned about at camp and coming up empty.

" _He must die._ " Jason said, focusing on Percy right beside him and broke out of Charlie's hold. Charlie cursed and let go of the water, allowing Percy to sweep a kick at Jason's leg, resulting in his head banging against the road with a sickening _crack!_ Percy stood up and leveled his sword at Jason's chest. Charlie threw himself back into the fray and protectively hovered over Jason. Percy gave him a frown but didn't move.

"Stop it!" Piper screamed again in desperation with no charmspeak in her voice. Percy raised his sword and Charlie tensed up further. Piper took a deep breath and got a hold of herself.

"Eidolon, stop." she commanded. Percy froze and Charlie kept up his tense frame, watching him carefully. "Face me." Piper ordered and the son of the sea god turned. His eyes were a glowing gold, his face pale and cruel. He looked nothing like Percy.

" _You have not chosen,_ " he said " _So this one will die._ "

"You're a spirit from the Underworld." she guessed, making sure his attention was on her and not Charlie, who was inching around to face the back of his father, waiting for her to signal him to knock Percy out. "You're possessing Percy Jackson. Is that it?" Piper continued, watching Charlie do an impressive imitation of a ninja with the way he was silently standing behind Percy.

Percy sneered, still unaware of Charlie. _"I will live again in this body. The Earth Mother has promised. I will go where I please, control whom I wish."_

Suddenly, everything clicked in her mind. "Octavian…that's what happened to him and the other two Romans. They were being controlled by an eidolon."

The thing inside of Percy laughed without humor and Charlie cringed at the noise. " _Too late you realize. You can trust no one."_

She gave Charlie a look and he nodded, moving with a dizzying speed and proceeded to bring Riptide's hilt down on to Percy's head. _Hard_. Percy crumpled to the pavement beside Jason and Charlie crouched down next to him. Piper rushed over to the three boys as Blackjack poked his head out of the wheat and slowly inched over to them. "Are they okay!?" Piper asked, kneeling beside Charlie.

He moved their heads and checked their pulses. "Eh…they should be fine. I didn't hit Dad that hard and Uncle Jason is notorious for having a hard head." She stared at him, trying to see if he was joking or not. He just ignored her and looked at Blackjack, waving him over. "Hey buddy, I'm sorry about the duel. Gaea's a massive bitch." He cooed, rubbing the pegasus's nose. Blackjack snorted and nodded in agreement before nickering in an almost inquisitive tone.

Charlie gave a sigh and winced as he breathed. "Dad will be just fine. Like I said I didn't hit him that hard, just enough to knock him out." The horse brayed and nudged Charlie's hand with his nose. Charlie gave a weak laugh and answered Blackjack's apparent question. "I'm good too. I've sparred with Aunt Thalia before and she doesn't pull her punches."

Piper gave a relieved sigh after feeling Jason's pulse herself and entered into the conversation. "We need to get them back to the ship." The horse bobbled his head in agreement and kneeled down so that they could get the two unconscious boys on his back, Charlie doing most of the lifting.

Charlie glanced between Blackjack and Piper, appearing to make a decision. "Aunt Piper, you take them back to the ship and I'll stay here. Blackjack can't carry four people; we need to make two trips."

"What? No way! You're the one who can actually talk to him, you go!" she protested, not wanting to leave him here alone.

His expression turned angry. "Look Aunt Piper, they need to go back to the ship. If you stay, you're liable to get killed which would screw _everything_ up. Besides you've only been a trained demigod for a couple months, I've been training since I could walk. I have a better chance of surviving if something wants to pick a fight."

She flinched at the words despite how true they were. Piper knew he was right; she just didn't want to leave him here, _alone_ , to possible be killed. She must have flinched harder than she thought because he winced and toned down his frustration.

"Please Aunt Piper, I'll be fine. Blackjack will be gone twenty minutes, tops. Ten to get you to the ship and ten back. I'll be aboard the _Argo ll_ before you know it." He said gently, giving her a puppy dog look.

Piper ran through what he said in her mind and sighed in defeat. "All right, fine. But you had better not get into trouble! You're mother is going to kill me as it is."

He gave her a crooked smile. "I'll be careful, I promise."

He boosted her up onto Blackjack's back and sent them off with a wave, standing there like he hadn't just knocked his father unconscious and been hit with lightning. One thing was for sure, he was most definitely a hero, just like his parents.


	15. Silena VI

**(Silena POV)**

Silena was not expecting her mother to come back from the Kansas highway with two unconscious boys. What she was more concerned about though after witnessing the scene of Blackjack landing on the deck with her worried looking mother and unconscious dad and uncle, was the lack of her older cousin.

Silena quickly walked over and helped unload the two demigods, only for Blackjack to take off again the instant they were off his back. Grabbing her dad's legs while Frank got his upper body, Silena glanced at her mom and asked with a slightly incredulous tone. "What happened out there?"

Piper gave a grunt from her position of holding Percy's legs while Annabeth clutched at his torso and gasped out. "I'll tell you when we get them settled in the med bay."

Ethan curiously came up the stairs as they got to them and gawked at them. "What happened?" He thankfully asked this while grabbing Percy's legs from Piper and helped them haul the two of them downstairs, passing Lily, Zack and Emily on the way there. The three of them silently stared at the five of them hauling the two unconscious boys as they shimmied down the hallway.

"It's a really long story, honey." Piper huffed as they laid the unconscious males on the beds in sick bay.

Ethan and Silena traded looks as Hazel and Coach Hedge entered the already full room. "Mom, I think it's one you need to start telling." Silena informed her, finding a spot on the wall to lean on while Coach Hedge and Zack, who had entered the room as well with Lily, Leo and Emily, checked over Jason and Percy.

She gave a nod and quickly explained what had transpired in Kansas causing Annabeth to inhale sharply when she got to the part about Charlie getting blasted. Silena wasn't too worried though; he had gone toe to toe with Thalia before and was _mostly_ able to walk it off. A blast from Jason like that wouldn't be able to kill him.

Jason and Percy started waking up as she finished her explanation and everyone watched them worriedly as they groaned their way into consciousness. Annabeth barely let Percy wake up before verbally pouncing on him. "Perseus Jackson! You're supposed to be protecting our son, not dueling him in the middle of a Kansas highway!"

Percy moaned, holding his head. "What? What do you mean duel? Where's Charlie?" He glanced around the room, looking for his son before focusing back on Piper, who was cringing. "Piper," He said in a falsely calm tone. "Where is my son?"

"Um…" she fidgeted, looking slightly afraid. "He's still at the highway. Blackjack couldn't carry all four of us so he decided to stay behind."

Percy looked decidedly unpleased. "So you're telling me, that my fourteen year old son, who I remember getting blasted with lightning," Jason winced immediately and gained a worried look. "Is still at the highway that Gaea was at?" Piper took a deep breath and nodded grimly. Percy's eyes narrowed and he swung his legs off the bed. "I'm getting him." He said in a determined tone.

Before he could make it to the door with Annabeth right beside him Charlie appeared through it, looking slightly worse for wear. His shirt was peppered with burn holes, his hair was a mess, he had cuts on his face and hands, and was walking stiffly. Piper inhaled sharply and exclaimed. "What happened while I was gone?"

Ethan, who was right by him, tossed Charlie's arm over his shoulder and dragged him to the bed that Percy had previously occupied. Charlie laid down and simply let Zack treat his wounds, eating and drinking the ambrosia and nectar he was handed. "Grain spirits are annoying little fuckers." He grumbled before turning to Jason and Percy. "Glad to see you two are up. Think you both can you know, _not_ , attack each other again? Because breaking up that fight sucked."

Annabeth hugged him and gave a glare to both demigods. "They aren't fighting again, sweetie. Right, boys?" She asked (read: demanded).

They both hurriedly nodded and Percy sat on Charlie's other side. "How are you feeling?" He asked, concerned.

Charlie shrugged. "Not too bad, actually. The scratches are just superficial and Aunt Thalia has hit me with worse lightning than Uncle Jase did. Give me twenty minutes and I'll be right as rain."

His parents frowned at each other but let it go. Leo cleared his throat and looked at Piper in askance. "So, you mentioned Atlanta. Why?" He aimed at her.

Piper blinked as if just remembering she had said something about that. "Yeah, Bacchus said we need to go there to find someone named Phorcys and something about salt water."

Everyone in the room looked perplexed as she said that but Leo, after a moment, shook himself out of it. "Right, salt water, got it." He mumbled before speaking louder. "I'll set us on a course for Atlanta. Lily?" He said, waving his hand toward the door and followed after his daughter.

Frank, Hazel, Coach Hedge and all of Silena's cousins followed them out of the room. She stood to leave as well but Charlie stopped her. "Lena, I need to talk to you about something." He said grimly, ignoring the both sets of parents still in the room.

She raised an eyebrow and perched in a chair. "About what?"

He wet his lips nervously. "We need to tell them. About you know." He gestured uselessly.

She stared at him in confusion for a second before it clicked in her head. Their siblings, of course. Silena eyed the parents nervously as well, catching their anxious expressions. "You sure? What's the reason for doing this now?" Silena asked in a suspicious tone. He dug his hand into his pocket and pulled something out, handing it to her. She looked at it and her heart dropped to her feet. She snapped her head up and met his eyes. "What the hell is this doing here?!"

The parents looked startled in the background as Charlie answered her. "I don't know. But we need to figure this out and the only way to do that is getting as many people as we can in this, trying to solve it." He said with a resigned air around him.

Silena took a breath and nodded. "Are we telling them now and the others later or waiting until everyone is together."

He shrugged. "I figure we tell them now and the rest later when we're discussing Atlanta."

Jason finally reached the end of his rope and snapped. "What are you two talking about? What don't we know?"  
Charlie and Silena exchanged looks and decided that she would start them off. "We didn't tell you everything about the future involving our family."

The 'adults' looked nervous and Percy spoke up. "What is it?"

"All of us except Emily have siblings." Charlie said biting the bullet. The parents looked like they had been slapped.

"You guys have _siblings_." Annabeth said in a forced tone. Charlie and Silena both cringed but nodded. Piper cleared her throat. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"It was decided that we needed to tell you guys as little as possible about the future." Charlie fidgeted with his fingers.

Percy looked slightly confused. "Then why tell us now?"

"Because I found a picture on that highway. A picture that none of us Kids brought and which could only have been taken in the future." Charlie said. Silena took over from there. "Which begs the question, if we didn't bring it, then who did?" 

"And why did they leave it for one of us to find." Charlie finished, scowling at the mystery they seemed to have on their hands.

The parent's facial expression shifted instantly. "Someone's letting us know that you aren't the only time travelers." Annabeth deduced. Charlie gave her a nod.

"How many siblings do you guys have?" Jason abruptly asked. Charlie bit his lip and thought for second, running the risks of telling them through his head.

"Silena has a little brother, Louis, he's six. Zack and Lily have younger sisters, Zack's is Gemma, who's two and Lily's is Gabriela, who's three. Ethan has twin baby brothers, Alejandro and Andre, who are seven months old. I have a baby sister as well, Zoe, she's five." Charlie told them, with a 'what the hell' attitude.

Percy blinked in shock and pointed at Charlie. "You have a little sister." He then pointed at his chest. "I have a baby girl?" Charlie gave a faint smirk and nodded his head. Percy sank in to his seat and muttered, "Oh my gods."

Jason laughed at him. "Now you know how I feel." Percy ignored him and put his head in his hands. Annabeth shook her head at her boyfriend's dramatics and asked if she could see the picture. Silena happily handed it over and smiled in unison with Charlie when she gasped softly at Zoe.

"She looks just like Percy." She held the picture gently, like if she held it too tight it would dissolve into dust.

Percy lifted his head and looked at the picture with a startled expression. "She has your eyes." Was all he pointed out as he adopted Annabeth's same awed expression.

Piper and Jason both shifted over to look at the picture as well and Piper cooed at Louis. "Jason, he looks like a mini you." She said, holding his hand. Jason laughed wetly and nodded. Charlie and Silena shared grins at their parent's reaction.

Percy cleared his throat. "You guys didn't happen to bring pictures, did you?"

Charlie got a contemplative look as the parents in a slightly hilarious role reversal looked at us with puppy dog eyes. "Actually now that you mention it, I did. Hold on, I'll be right back." He vanished through the door and appeared two minutes later. "I made copies of all our family pictures and made a huge album in case we were ever feeling homesick." He explained, coming into the room toting a giant photo album. He laid it down on the bed and flipped to the front page as everyone crowded around him.

"Ah, of course the baby pictures." Silena said, pointing at a one depicting the first time Jason held her.

All four parents cooed over the picture. "You're so tiny." Piper awed at the scene while Jason looked blown away.

Charlie put his finger on another one that showcased Annabeth, Percy and a two week old Charlie passed out on a king sized bed. Charlie was on his back, sound asleep, while his parents laid on their sides on either side of him, keeping him in place, completely knocked out. "I think Aunt Thalia took this one." He said, grinning at the picture.

Annabeth sighed happily and Percy continued to ruin his street cred with his cooing. Charlie snorted but continued to flip through the book before landed on their sibling's baby pictures. "This was taken just after Zoe had gotten cleaned up after Mom gave birth. I think you took this one Aunt Piper." He said, pointing at it. It depicted Annabeth looking exhausted but content, holding a minutes old Zoe to her chest while Percy was sitting right beside his two girls with red rimmed eyes, putting a hand on Zoe's tiny head. Percy coughed to hide his tears and Annabeth sniffled quietly.

Silena pointed to the next one. "This one was taken two days after Mom gave birth. Uncle Leo took it." It showed Piper in her hospital bed, looking a little tired, holding Louis up to the camera while Jason sat perched on the side of the bed with an eight year old Silena in his lap. "Oh my gods. This is really real." Piper breathed as she leaned her head on Jason's shoulder.

Charlie and Silena snorted and replied in unison. "Yep." The two of them backed away as their parents delved deeper into the photos and Silena rested her head on Charlie's shoulder resulting in him laying his head on top of hers. "At least they know now." He murmured to her as we watched in amusement.

She huffed a quiet laugh. "Yeah, but we still need to figure out who left that picture in Kansas."

Silena felt rather than heard him sigh. "We'll get to that later. Let's just enjoy this for now." She agreed and fell silent, watching their parents. She still felt uneasy though. Who had left that picture for them? How did they get it? Were they from the future? What did they intend to say, leaving it where they would find it? As these questions flowed through her brain, Silena had one consistent thought.

Things just got a lot more complicated.


	16. Silena VII

**(Silena POV)**

The rest of the parents reacted just like hers and Charlie's parents did. They spent twenty minutes cooing and awing over the family album. Charlie had even bullied Zack into Iris messaging Uncle Will and telling him about Gemma. He was understandably annoyed but calmed down after Zack showed him a picture of her. Iris was thankfully feeling charitable and the Iris message was stable.

Eventually though they got down to down to business and Piper started explaining what happened in Kansas again, going deeper into it this time around.

"Of course!" Hazel said enthusiastically after Piper explained about eidolons, slapping the table which startled Frank badly enough that he dropped his burrito. Charlie, Zack, and Lily snickered quietly. "That's what happened to Octavian and the other two!"

"So it's not their fault?" Leo looked kind of relieved at the fact that the three Romans hadn't fired on purpose.

Charlie gave a _eh_ motion with his hand. "I don't know, from what we heard about Octavian over the years he wasn't exactly the greatest guy. I would bet good money that if he wasn't such a loyal Roman, he would still have done it to set us up without the eidolons controlling him." All of those in the room that knew Octavian gave a reluctant nod of agreement when given questioning looks.

"The Romans don't know anything about the eidolons. Why would they take our word for it?" Annabeth redirected the conversation back to topic at hand.

"We should contact Reyna," Jason suggested, unaware of the expression on Piper's face that made it look like she had just sucked on a lemon. "She would believe us." He then turned to Piper with a hopeful expression on his face. "You could convince her, Pipes. I know you could."

Annabeth aimed her 'Our boys are idiots' look toward Piper while Hazel winced in sympathy. Charlie and Ethan silently face palmed as Lily and Silena shared eye rolls that said the exact same thing, 'He's stupid.'

Even the other men in the room looked at Jason like he was a moron. Percy stared at him in disbelief, Frank looked like he wanted to be anywhere else and Leo seemed to be reconsidering his friendship with Jason. How Jason didn't see _any_ of this was a mystery to Silena. Piper swallowed down whatever she was feeling and halfheartedly answered him.

"I could try," She said in a forced even tone. "But Octavian is the one we have to worry about. In my dagger, I saw him taking control of the Roman crowd. I'm not sure Reyna can stop him."

Jason's expression darkened as Hazel and Frank nodded in agreement. "She's right," Frank said, picking up his burrito. "This afternoon when we were scouting, we saw eagles again. They were a long way off, but closing fast. Octavian is on the warpath."

Nobody looked particularly happy at that. Hazel grimaced at what she was going to say. "This is exactly the sort of opportunity Octavian has always wanted. He'll try to seize power. If Reyna objects, he'll say she's soft on the Greeks. As for those eagles…it's like they could smell us." She said, absently picking at her fingernails, a trait that Silena noticed Emily got from her.

Jason dropped an unwelcome truth bomb. "They can. Roman eagles can hunt demigods by their magical sent even better than monsters can. This ship might conceal us somewhat but not completely, not from them." He said grimly.

Leo drummed his fingers on the table. "Great. I should have installed a smoke screen that makes the ship smell like a giant chicken nugget. Remind me to invent that, next time."

Lily looked interested in the prospect of building it while Hazel frowned in confusion. "What is a chicken nugget?"

"Oh, man…" Leo shook his head in disbelief before gaining a delighted look. "That's right. You've missed the last like, seventy years. Well, my apprentice, a chicken nugget- "

Annabeth interrupted him before he could get into his explanation, much to Lily's, The Terror Twins, Charlie's and Percy's disappointment. "Doesn't matter," She gave Leo her 'Quit messing around' look that was usually reserved for her husband. "The point is, we'll have a hard time explaining the truth to the Romans. Even if they believe us- "

"You're right." Jason leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table and leaning on his hands. "We should keep going. Once we're over the Atlantic, we'll be safe… at least from the legion."

Jason looked depressed at the thought and Piper gave him a sympathetic look, rubbing his shoulder lightly. Silena felt Emily, who was seated on her right, shift in her patented 'Boredom is killing me' squirm. Charlie, who was sat on Emily's other side, gave an amused look as he threw an arm over her shoulders to keep her from squirming. Emily gave him a pout but snuggled into him.

Hazel and Annabeth sent the two amused smiles as Piper asked, "How can you be sure? Why wouldn't they follow us?"

"You heard Reyna talking about the ancient lands. They're too dangerous. Roman demigods have been forbidden from going there for generations. Even Octavian couldn't get around that rule." Jason explained further.

Frank suddenly didn't seem to be enjoying his burrito as much. "So, if _we_ go there…"

"We'll be outlaws as well as traitors," Jason nodded grimly. "Any Roman demigod would have the right to kill us on sight. But I wouldn't worry about that. If we get across the Atlantic, they'll give up on chasing us. They'll assume that we'll die in the Mediterranean- the Mare Nostrum."

Percy pointed his pizza slice at Jason sarcastically. "You, sir, are a ray of sunshine."

Charlie snorted at his dad as he unconsciously ran his fingers through a half asleep Emily's hair. Even after knowing Emily since she was born, Silena was still amazed at her ability to fall asleep _anywhere_. It was a nice talent.

Jason didn't argue Percy's statement. Everyone stared at their plates, other than Percy and Charlie. The Jackson boys were munching on their respective dinners still, Uncle Percy with his pizza and Charlie with his burger. Those two ate like satyrs most days, Silena swore it. "So let's plan ahead," Percy suggested after swallowing his bite of pizza. "and make sure we don't die. Mr. D- Bacchus- Ugh do I have to call him Mr. B now? Anyway, he mentioned the twins in Ella's prophecy. Two giants. Otis and, uh, something that started with an F?"

"Ephialtes," Jason said.

"Twin giants, like Piper saw in her blade…" Annabeth stared off into space as she played with the rim of her cup. "I remember a story about twin giants. They tried to reach Mount Olympus by piling up a bunch of mountains."

Frank choked hilariously on his burrito. "Well, that's great. Giants who can use mountains like building blocks. And you say Bacchus killed these guys with a pinecone stick?"

As Percy answered him and mentioned something about tributes, Silena noticed Charlie glance down at the mostly asleep twelve year old cuddled into him and gave a chuckle before quietly rolling to his feet. He pulled her into a standing hug and hiked her up onto his hips, treating her like a two year old instead of the preteen she was.

Ethan did the same thing to Zack as Charlie said, "We'll be right back. We're just gonna put these two to bed. Don't wait for us."

Annabeth nodded and gestured at the two of them to go. Charlie briefly lifted one hand from Emily to shoot his mother a thumbs up as Lily and Silena stood up and followed them out the door. The six of them moved toward the younger twos respective cabins, Charlie and Ethan only stopping to unload their cargo into their own beds.

Silena followed Ethan into Zack and Leo's shared cabin, noting with amusement that Zack's bed was a mess and Uncle Leo's was cluttered with tools, wires, and gods know what else. Ethan put Zack on the bed and worked to release the death grip the black haired boy had on him. Ethan grumbled good-naturedly as he finally worked his way out of Zack's arms. He gave Silena an exasperated look that she returned. The two of them walked back out of the cabin, Ethan closing the door after she shut off the lights. They met Lily and Charlie in the hallway and walked back to the mess hall.

They stumbled into a tense atmosphere as Percy, Jason and Leo raised their hands with their eyes glassy and gold. Hazel caught her breath as Frank scrambled away from Leo, bumping into the wall. The four cousins stepped more fully into the room, Lily and Charlie moving to their fathers while Ethan and Silena moved towards her mother.

She barely gave the two a glance as she spoke. "Are there more of you on this ship?"

" _No_ ," Leo said in a voice not his own. Right beside him, Lily cringed but stayed where she was. " _The Earth Mother sent three. The strongest, the best. We will live again._ "

"Not here, you won't," Piper growled, glaring at the three possessed boys. "All three of you listen carefully." They turned toward her, doing as she told them too. Unfeeling gold eyes stared at Silena's mother, it fueled her rage more, Silena could feel it. Ethan inched over to Leo, laying an unconscious hand on the pendant around his neck, ready to pull it and bring his sword out.

"You will leave these bodies." Piper commanded irritably, still glaring at them.

" _No_ ," Percy said, ignoring Charlie who was standing near him, prepared to knock him out again.

Leo let out a hiss causing Ethan and Lily to tense up further. _"We must live_."

Frank fumbled with his bow. "Mars Almighty, that's creepy! Get out of here, spirits! Leave our friends alone!"

Leo turned toward him, unhappy at being commanded by someone other than Piper. _"You cannot command us, child of war. Your own life is fragile. Your soul could burn at any moment._ "

Frank looked like he'd been sucker punched but drew an arrow. "I- I've faced down worse things then you. If you want a fight- "

"Ethan, control!" Charlie barked out before Frank could finish his sentence.

Ethan understood the code and stepped forward, in front of Frank and glared at him. "I'd put that down if I were you." He growled lowly, finally tugging on his pendant to release his sword.

Frank swallowed hard and stepped back nervously as Hazel warned him. "Frank, do what he says." She rose. Next to her, Jason drew his sword. Silena clapped her hands, smacking her rings together and making her twin daggers appear. Beside her, Piper scrambled to control the situation. "Stop!" Piper's voice wavered slightly.

Hazel backed her up. ""Listen to Piper." She pointed at Jason's sword and made it fall to the table. Jason sank back into his chair.

Percy growled, resulting in Charlie putting his hand in his pocket and pulling out Riptide, still in pen form. " _Daughter of Pluto you may control gems and metals. You do not control the dead._ " Percy seethed, glaring at Charlie who glared right back.

Annabeth reached for her boyfriend as if to restrain him but Charlie waved her off, shifting his weight into a stance that Silena knew meant business. Silena continued to size up her dad, mind running through how she could knock his ass out before he could hurt anyone.

"Listen, eidolons," Hazel said sternly, ignoring what the spirit said. "You do not belong here. I may not command you, but Piper does. Listen to her." She looked to Piper, giving her a supportive look.

Piper took a breath, steadying herself before looking Jason right in the eyes. "You will leave these bodies."

Jason's face tightened as he fought internally against Piper's words. " _We- we will leave these bodies_."

"You will vow on the River Styx never to return to this ship," Piper continued, not giving them an inch. "and never to possess any member of this crew again." Leo and Percy hissed in protest causing Ethan and Charlie to glare at them harder. "You will promise on the River Styx." Piper insisted in a no nonsense tone.

A heartbeat of silence passed before all three possessed boys forced out the words. " _We promise on the River Styx._ "

"You are dead."

" _We are dead._ " The eidolons agreed.

"Now leave." All three of them slumped like puppet with their strings cut off. Percy fell face first into his pizza, Charlie and Annabeth grabbing him and sitting him up. Piper and Hazel caught Jason as he slipped out the chair while Ethan and Lily caught Leo before he could hit the floor, Frank making no move to help.

"Ow!" Leo groaned as Ethan straightened him in his chair.

"Are you alright?" Lily asked worriedly.

He rubbed his head. "Yeah _carino_ , I'm fine. Did it work?"

"It worked," Piper said, giving a relieved sigh. "I don't think they'll be back."

Jason blinked. "Does that mean I can stop getting head injuries now?"

Piper and Silena laughed while Ethan and Charlie snorted as they put their weapons away. Charlie however lost his amusement quickly when he caught sight of Frank putting his arrow away. "I've got a bone to pick with you." He told him, striding toward him and away from his parents.

Frank regained his deer-in-the-headlights look. "W-what did I do?"

Charlie scowled as he stopped in front of him, glaring hard. "When one of the members of the crew gets possessed, you do not _pick a fight with it_." Frank opened his mouth to speak but Charlie steamrolled right over him. "I shouldn't have had to have Ethan walk over here and tell you to put it down! I don't know what you think is going on between Uncle Leo and Aunt Hazel but the fact that you and she have a daughter should've clued you into the fact that they're friends and nothing more!" Charlie yelled angrily, causing Frank to snap his mouth shut. Ethan and Silena shared a look conveying one thing. ' _Oh no_.' "Get your head out of your ass and stop trying to make this into a measuring contest. Uncle Leo is not trying to get with Aunt Hazel. You had better quit this caveman bullshit _right now_. The only thing that will come out of this entire charade is somebody's death. So, cut it out alright?" Charlie finished, toning done his glare slightly.

Frank fidgeted nervously but bucked up his pride. "And if I don't?"

Ethan, Lily and Silena faced palmed while Charlie growled in rage. "Then I'll make you. If you don't think I can then look back on the last two days. I have been sliced open, punched, and electrocuted; I walked away from all of that like it was nothing. So, if you _really_ want to do this then let's go, just be warned that I can't be trusted to pull my punches." Charlie crossed his arms and waited for his answer.

Before Frank could answer though Annabeth cut in. "Nobody is fighting anyone. Frank, Charlie is right. This little competition that you've apparently decided you and Leo are in needs to stop. If it doesn't, it will get someone killed." She got in between them, giving Charlie a look that was pretty clear. ' _Back off. I got it from here_.'

Charlie obediently stepped back a few paces and tiredly ran a hand through his hair. Silena looked at him sympathetically; it had been a really crappy day for him. It was no wonder really why he snapped. Annabeth continued speaking to Frank. "And if you dare accept Charlie's 'offer', I can and will kick your ass. No one is laying a hand on my son if I can help it." She aimed that last bit toward Jason, who gave a tired thumbs up.

Frank nodded and quietly sat down at the table. Charlie rolled his previously injured shoulder and muttered about going to bed, walking out the door. The last of the Kids followed him out, calling various 'good nights' to everyone. Silena stumbled into her cabin and exhaustedly fell on her bed, not even kicking off her shoes. The last thing she remembered was her mom kissing her forehead and pulling a blanket over her.


	17. Silena VIII

**(Silena POV)**

Some days Silena hated Charlie, simply because he had gotten her so used to functioning on six hours of sleep or less that she found it was impossible to get more than that unless she was exhausted. She knew Lily felt the same way as her and Ethan had always been a night owl. The Terror Twins slept for as long as possible, regardless of what any one did.

So that meant she was up and lounging around the mess hall with Charlie, Ethan and Lily when Annabeth woke up Percy. Charlie cocked his head to the side and listened intently for a moment before his lips twitched into a smile.

Lily noticed and gave a raised eyebrow. "What's the smile for, Chuckles?"

He smirked and crossed his arms. "Looks like my mom is waking up my dad."

Silena, Ethan and Lily shared mischievous looks before Ethan schooled his expression. "Think we should tell them that you aren't supposed to be born for another like five years?"

"It's not like that and you know it." Charlie chided.

Lily widened her eyes innocently. "Of course not! We would just be imparting knowledge."

Charlie gave her a 'really' expression. "Uh huh, sure."

"I've got ten on Uncle Leo finding them." Silena threw her two cents in.

Ethan cracked his knuckles. "I'll take you up on that. I'll put ten on it being Aunt Hazel."

"Put me down for Coach Hedge." Lily said with a haughty smirk on her face.

Charlie shook his head in amusement. "Fine, I'll say it's Uncle Frank."

The four shook hands and went back to quietly talking. Silena drummed her fingers on the surface of the table, thinking hard. Charlie glanced at her and asked what was wrong. She sighed. "I'm thinking about the picture. I mean, why would someone just leave it there? How did they even get it?"

Charlie gained a serious expression, one that Ethan and Lily mirrored. "I've been thinking on it too. It can't be one of our parents; they would have come up to us, not leave pictures and a Kansas highway. I can't think of anyone else though." Charlie sounded frustrated, running an agitated hand through his hair.

Silena nodded in agreement, absently biting her lip. Everyone was quiet for a few seconds before Lily sighed in defeat. "Who wants to play poker?" She said, standing up and stretching.

Silena shared a look with the two boys, exchanging a shrug. "Sure, are we playing for chips and candy?"

"What else do we play for?" Lily retorted as she walked out of the room, presumably to get the deck of cards.

Charlie snorted and murmured, "Smartass." Silena and Ethan laughed and agreed. Lily appeared through the doorway a minute later. "Both of Charlie's parents aren't in their cabins. I'm pretty sure they went to the stables."

"Probably." Charlie admitted before cracking his neck. "Are we playing or what?"

"Calm down Fish Boy, I'm shuffling them." Lily said in mock stern tone as she sat down and began shuffling the cards like a professional. She finished, dealt the cards to everyone and the game began.

They played six hands before Emily and Zack stumbled in, yawning loudly. The two of them took one look at the table and demanded to be dealt in. As they played Silena couldn't help the smile that came across her face, it had been awhile since they had done something like this. For the last two years their lives had been on a schedule. Wake up, eat, train, eat, rest a little, train, eat, and go to bed. Then they did it all over again. It felt nice relaxing like this again.

They played for two hours, Ethan and Charlie tied for first place in how many rounds they'd won with Emily not far behind them. Zack was cursing out Lily for bluffing him out of a sure hand while Silena glared darkly at Charlie for managing to one up her two of a kind with a flush. He grinned at her unrepentant as he ate some of his winnings.

Leo was the next one to walk in the mess hall, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He stopped in the doorway and stared at the six cousins in surprise. After noticing the nonchalant air surrounding them he shrugged and pulled up a chair, watching the game while stealing some of Lily's earnings.

Hazel and Frank stumbled upon them next twenty minutes later. Leo had been dealt in and subsequently lost more than he won, much to his dismay. The two Romans sat on either side of Emily and ate their breakfasts, watching intently after having Ethan explain the rules. Their amusement grew the more they witnessed the game, Hazel giggling hysterically when Charlie gave a surprise swear at Emily when she laid down a full house.

Piper was the next to enter with Jason by her side thirty minutes after Frank and Hazel, both of them laughing when they saw the poker game. Piper asking to be dealt in the next round as she and Jason sat down and began eating. "I'd be careful Piper," Hazel warned with a playful glint in her eyes. "These guys take it seriously."

Piper grinned back. "So do I, now deal me in." Ethan obeyed her and redealt the cards. The room was becoming louder as everyone got into the game, Ethan and Zack bickering with each other while Charlie and Emily screwed with each other's cards good-naturedly. Silena and Lily were having a battle inside the game and Silena was losing so far but was making a comeback. Piper and Leo were playfully sniping at each other while Jason, Frank and Hazel laughed and commented in the background.

Then Coach Hedge came in and started hollering about Percy and Annabeth being missing. The mood in the room dropped as everyone rushed out except for the Kids. The four who made the bet grinned at each other and continued playing, quietly explaining to Zack and Emily why they weren't worried. They snorted and went back to playing, Zack bemoaning the fact that they made the bet without him resulting in Ethan telling him to suck it up. Their bickering resumed to the others amusement.

Ten minutes later everyone gathered in the mess hall again, Frank leading the newly found Percy and Annabeth into the room. Charlie cackled before turning to a sulking Silena, Ethan, and Lily.

"Pay up." He demanded with a cocky grin on his face. Silena grumbled as she stuck her hand in her pocket and pulled out a ten dollar bill, Lily and Ethan doing the same. Charlie's grin grew wider as he pocketed the cash before tipping an imaginary cowboy hat. "Thank you very much."

The three glared at him harder as Leo chuckled at them before muttering "Classic. Classic." at Percy and Annabeth. Hazel fanned her face while Jason and Piper looked relieved.

Coach Hedge however blew up at the couple. "Never in my life!" He bellowed as he waved his bat around, nearly smacking Zack upside the head with it. Zack ducked thankfully. "Against the rules! Irresponsible!"

"Coach," Annabeth sighed, giving her son a look when she caught him snickering. "it was an accident. We were talking, and we fell asleep."

"Besides," Percy cut in, making faces at Lily when he caught her smirking. "you're starting to sound like Terminus." Silena scrunched her nose up at the mention of the statue. She had never liked him; he was too snooty and arrogant. Then again, most gods were.

Hedge's anger grew. "Is that an insult, Jackson? 'Cause I'll- I'll terminus you, buddy."

Silena saw Percy bite his lip, trying not to laugh. "It won't happen again, Coach. I promise. Now, don't we have other things to discuss?"

Hedge's vein popped out on his neck. "Fine! But I'm watching you, Jackson. And you, Annabeth Chase, I thought you had more sense- "

Silena giggled at Charlie while he laughed so hard he couldn't breathe. Her father cleared his throat and interrupted Hedge before he could get any farther into his rant. "So grab some food, everybody. Let's get started." Jason said, clapping his hands together.

Everyone grabbed food and listened to Percy describe his dream about Nico. Hazel choked back a sob and hugged Emily to her chest, the twelve year old cuddling in and letting her mother use her for comfort. "Nico…oh, gods. The seeds." She said, tightly holding Emily, who did not look happy.

"You know what they are?" Annabeth asked, buttering a piece of toast.

Hazel nodded. "He showed them to me once. They're from our stepmother's garden."

"Your step…oh," Percy said, putting his donut down. "You mean Persephone."

"The seeds are a last resort." Hazel explained, running her fingers down Emily's back. "Only children of Hades can eat them. Nico kept some in case he ever got stuck somewhere. But if he's really imprisoned- "

"The giants are trying to lure us," Annabeth said, giving Hazel a soft look. "They're assuming we'll try to rescue him."

"Well, they're right!" Hazel faltered, looking around the table. "Won't we?"

Charlie preemptively stopped Coach Hedge from answering. "Of course we will, Aunt Hazel. He's family, and we _always_ rescue family." He said in a firm tone. The other five Kids nodded in agreement causing Hazel to relax fractionally.

Annabeth nodded at her son's statement. "How much time do we have?"

"One seed a day," Hazel sounded miserably just talking about the subject. "That's if he puts himself in a death trance."

"A death trance?" Leo frowned, swallowing the last bite of his donut. "That doesn't sound fun."

"It keeps him from consuming all his air." Hazel explained. "Like hibernation or a coma. One seed can sustain him for one day, barely."

"And he has five seeds left," Percy leaned forward, a grim look on his face. "That's five days, including today. The giants must have planned it that way, so we'd have to arrive by July first. Assuming Nico is hidden somewhere in Rome- "

"That's not much time." Piper finished for him, putting a comforting hand on Hazel's shoulder. "We'll find him. At least we know what the lines of the prophecy mean now. ' _Twins snuff out the angel's breath, who holds the key to endless death._ ' Your brother's last name: di Angelo. _Angelo_ is Italian for 'angel'."

"Oh, gods, Nico…" Hazel murmured.

"We'll rescue him," Percy declared, backed up by Charlie and Zack's nods. "We _have_ to. The prophecy says he holds the key to endless death."

"That's right," Piper reassured Hazel, tag-teaming her with Percy. "Hazel, your brother went searching for the Doors of Death in the Underworld, right? He must've found them."

"He can tell us where the doors are," Percy finished their shared pep talk. "and how to close them."

Hazel took a deep breath and released Emily from the death grip she had on her. "Yes. Good."

"Uh…" Leo looked uncomfortable, like what he was about say made him feel bad. "One thing. The giants are expecting us to do this, right? So we're walking into a trap?"

Hazel sent him a betrayed look. "We have no choice!"  
Zack scowled and nodded in agreement. Silena and Charlie silently rubbed his shoulders as Leo replied back. He put his hands up in a 'don't shoot' manner. "Don't get me wrong, Hazel. It's just that your brother, Nico… he knew about both camps, right?"

"Well, yes." Hazel did not look pleased with where the conversation was going. Silena shared a nervous look with Lily as Leo reluctantly finished his thought.

"He's been going back and forth," He sounded slightly hesitant. "and didn't tell either side."

Jason jumped in next, agreeing with his best friend. "You're wondering if we can trust this guy. So am I."

Hazel shot to her feet in outrage. "I don't believe this. He's my _brother_. He brought me back from the Underworld, and you don't want to help him?"

Frank stepped in, calmly laying a hand on her shoulder. "Nobody's saying that." He shot Jason and Leo a look. "Nobody had _better_ be saying that."

Charlie cleared his throat pointedly, giving Ethan a nudge. Ethan gave an exasperated sigh but smoothly interjected himself into the 'discussion'. " _Obviously_ no one is saying that." He said dryly. "But even if they were, it's a sound observation, Aunt Hazel."

She spun around to face him, scowling. "Why is that?"

"We were always taught to question and analyze everything, so that when we were in a fight we would have the upper hand." He boredly responded. "That translates outside of combat as well."

Silena continued the explanation. "From an outsider's perspective, Uncle Nico's actions are suspicious. He knew about both camps, physically talked to Uncle Percy and didn't say a thing to anyone. Sure, he's your brother, but even family can betray you. We learned that the hard way."

The six Kids looked grim as Charlie finished their lecture. "We know for a fact that Uncle Nico didn't but for someone without knowledge of the future, it looks sketchy. Uncle Leo's being a team player, trying to bring up potential threats."

Hazel, though normally appreciative of logic, shook with anger. "How can you say that! Zack, aren't you angry too?" She glanced at her nephew with a hopeful glint in her eyes.

Zack just shook his head. "No, because Uncle Leo didn't actually accuse him of anything. Even if he did, I would be fine with it. The smart thing to do is look for threats, that way you'll never be surprised." Hazel growled in rage and the silverware started trembling. Zack kept his calm expression even as Frank lightly stepped away from his frightening girlfriend.

"Can you stop with that please? I don't feel like getting impaled, thank you very little." Lily snapped after sidestepping away from a wayward fork headed toward her.

Hazel clenched her fists and stalked out of the room. Everyone took a collective deep breath now that the metal around the room stopped shaking. "Well, that was fun." Ethan said sarcastically, plopping into his chair. Piper frowned at him and the other three who had spoken.

"That was cold, kids. Really cold." She chastised. The four gained offended looks and Zack crossed his arms sulkily.

Charlie defended the four of them. "How was that cold? We were stating the facts!"

"Her brother is dying, your uncle! You could be a little bit nicer!" Piper shot back.

Lily gained a sarcastic look. "No…really?"

"Lillian Esperanza…" Leo warned, frowning at her tone. Lily slouched in her seat and mumbled an apology. Festus thankfully interrupted the ensuing lecture Annabeth and Piper looked ready to give. Leo tilted his head and listened for a moment. "That's Festus," He said. "I've got him on autopilot, but we must be nearing Atlanta. I'll have to get up there…uh, assuming we know where to land."

All eyes turned to Percy who blinked at the sudden attention.

Jason raised a sardonic eyebrow. "You're Captain Salt Water. Any ideas from the expert?" The Jackson family glared in unison causing Jason to flinch a little. Silena felt no sympathy; after all if you were dumb enough to screw with them, you deserved the consequences. Percy reluctantly answered after a glaring at him for a few more seconds.

"I'm not sure," He said "Somewhere central, high up so we can get a good view of the city. Maybe a park with some woods? We don't want to land a warship in the middle of downtown. I doubt even the Mist can cover something that huge."

Leo gave a thumbs up and ran for the stairs. Percy then informed Frank and Charlie they would be coming with. Frank bemoaned the fact that he had been everyone's taxi but Percy explained that he wanted him because he had the blood of Poseidon. Frank looked mollified afterwards. Percy then tried to suggest Annabeth coming as well but was quickly shut down by Coach Hedge.

"Oh, no." The coach denied. "Young lady, you are _grounded_."

Instantly the Kids burst out laughing, Charlie cackling madly. Annabeth however stared at the satyr in horror. "Excuse me?"

"You and Jackson aren't going _anywhere_ together!" Hedge insisted, to the dismay of Percy and Annabeth and the amusement of the Kids, who were all lying on the ground catching their breath.

"I'll go with Frank and Mr. Sneaky Jackson, both of them." He continued as Silena and the others giggled breathlessly, ignoring the half-hearted glare from Percy. "The rest of you guard the ship and make sure Annabeth doesn't break any more rules."

"This," Charlie grinned from his position on the floor, eyes twinkling. "is going to be _so_ much fun."


	18. Charlie VIII

**(Charlie POV)**

Charlie decided he quite liked Esther. She was a tiny, sweet old lady that reminded him of those Grandmas that was surrounded by grandkids all the time. Of course, his grandmother was Sally Jackson and he adored her. She was the one who got him hooked on blue food and insisted on throwing him and his cousins amazing birthday parties. She had even been okay with becoming everyone's grandma, it seemed like.

Esther reminded him of her with her insistence on calling him 'sweetie'. It also made him a little nostalgic. Though he knew that if they succeeded in their quest he would get to spend a lot more time with his beloved grandma. Esther was nice enough to drop the four of them off and give them money for a taxi ride back to the Carter Center despite them telling her to keep.

As she drove away Frank asked. "Are all people in Atlanta that nice?"

Hedge didn't look pleased. "I hope not. I can't fight them if they're nice. Let's go beat up some whale sharks. They sound dangerous!"

Charlie exchanged an exasperated look with his father as they walked behind him. He saw Percy glance at the elementary schoolers in line for admission with a brief look of sadness. Charlie bit his lip and nudged him, giving his dad an understanding half smile when he looked at Charlie. Percy sent a faint smile back and ruffled his son's hair before getting back to the task at hand. "Well, I guess we wait in line. Anybody have money?" Percy asked.

Charlie patted down his pockets and pulled out four ten dollar bills. He showed them to his dad with a shrug. Percy gave an approving nod before looking at the other two.

Frank checked his pockets as well. "Four denarii from Camp Jupiter. Five dollars Canadian."

Hedge pulled out what he found in his gym short pockets. "Three quarters, two dimes, a rubber band and- score! A piece of celery."

The satyr chewed the celery, much to Charlie's disgust. 'How long has been there?' Charlie thought horrified as he watched Hedge eye the rubber band and change like he was debating on eating them as well. "Great," Percy deadpanned, a similar expression on his face.

Charlie glanced around wondering how they were going to get in since he was positive twenty dollars and ninety five cents was not going to get them in. He snapped his attention to a woman coming up to them wearing an employee's shirt that had name tag that said 'Kate' on it. "Ah, VIP visitors!" She said excitedly before snatching the four denarii from Frank's hand. "You have your payment, I see! Excellent!"

"What?" Percy said, shifting slightly in front of Charlie.

Kate glanced at the coins and nodded. "Yes, that's fine. Right this way!"

Percy glanced at the other two. "A trap?"

"Probably." Frank agreed.

Charlie nodded. "Definitely."

"She's not mortal," Hedge said after sniffing the air. "Probably some sort of goat-eating, demigod-destroying fiend from Tartarus."

"No doubt." Percy said, resigned.

"Awesome," Hedge grinned manically making Charlie feel somewhat on edge. "Let's go."

They followed after Kate, Percy leaning over to Charlie and telling him to 'Stay out of trouble; otherwise your mother will kill me.' Charlie simply gave him an innocent smile that Percy eyed distrustfully as Kate led them into the aquarium. "Right this way," Kate grinned at the father/son duo. "It's a _wonderful_ exhibit. You won't be disappointed. So rare we get VIPs."

Frank fidgeted as he asked. "Uh, you mean demigods?"

Kate winked and put a finger to her lips. "So over here is the cold water experience, with your penguins and beluga whales and whatnot. And over there…well, those are some fish." Kate did not seem to like the smaller, less dangerous fish. When Frank pointed to fish and asked what it was, Kate replied. "Oh, those are the yellow ones."

Charlie gave a questioning at Percy, who shrugged in response. They passed the gift shop and Frank stopped to check out the clearance table. "Take what you want," Kate said.

Frank gave a shocked blink. "Really?"

"Of course! You're a VIP!"

Frank hesitated for a second before stuffing T-Shirts in his backpack. Charlie gave a raised eyebrow as Percy questioned him.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Percy said.

"She said I could," Frank whispered, putting one more T-Shirt in. "Besides, I need more clothes. I didn't pack for a long trip!"

He picked up a snow globe and threw it in. Charlie was startled to realize that it was the same snow globe that had sat on the Zhang's fireplace mantle since before Charlie was born. Frank then picked up a braided cylinder about the size of a candy bar. Again Charlie was startled by this, since those Chinese handcuffs were usually sat next to the snow globe. It was a little freaky.

Frank squinted at what he had in his hand. "What is- ?"

Percy answered. "Chinese handcuffs."

Frank took on an offended look. "How is this Chinese?"

"I don't know," Percy said while Charlie snickered in the background. "That's just what it's called. It's like a gag gift."

Kate called for them. "Come along, boys!"

"I'll show you later," Percy said, clapping a hand on Frank's shoulder as they continued walking.

They walked further into the aquarium, through an acrylic tunnel. Charlie felt his dad shift anxiously next to him and hoped he would calm down. They emerged in a viewing room awash with blue light. On the other side of a glass wall was a giant aquarium tank, bigger than anything Charlie had ever seen. Dozens of huge fish, including two spotted sharks, each one twice the size of Charlie. They were fat and slow, mouths open that showed no teeth.

"Whale sharks," Hedge cracked his knuckles. "Now we fight to the death!"

Kate giggled. "Silly satyr. Whale sharks are peaceful. They only eat plankton."

Percy and Charlie shared a mutual scowl. How had Kate known about Hedge being a satyr? The nicer Kate acted the more wary Charlie became of her. He could tell his father felt the same way. Hedge sadly seemed unaware and continued with his rant.

"Peaceful sharks?" the coach scowled. "What's the point of that?"

Frank was peering at a plaque next to the tank. "The only whale sharks in captivity in the world. That's kind of amazing."

"Yes, and these are small," Kate smiled. "You should see some of my other babies out in the wild."

"Your babies?" Frank asked warily.

Kate's smile turned sharp causing a chill to go down Charlie's spine. He _really_ didn't want to meet this lady's 'babies'. Percy seemed to agree as he hastened to move the conversation along.

"So, Kate," Percy said. "we're looking for a guy…I mean a god, named Phorcys. Would you happen to know him?"

Charlie hadn't expected Kate to snort and say. " _Know_ him? He's my brother. That's where we're going sillies. The _real_ exhibits are right through here." She waved a hand at the far wall. It began to ripple, and another tunnel came into view, leading through a purple lit tank. Kate strolled inside. Charlie and Percy gave reluctant looks but followed at a sedated pace, Frank and Coach Hedge bringing up the rear.

The moment they entered, Hedge whistled. "Now _that's_ interesting."

Swimming overhead was multicolored jellyfish the size of trash cans, every single one with hundreds of tentacles that looked like barbed wire. One jellyfish had a limp looking ten-foot-long swordfish in its grasp, slowly wrapping its tendrils tighter and tighter around its prey.

Kate beamed happily at the coach. "You see? Forget the whale sharks! And there's much more."

Charlie didn't want to see what 'more' looked like, but he didn't get a choice. Kate led them into a larger chamber, lined with more aquariums. On one wall, a glowing red sign depicted a sentence: DEATH IN THE DEEP SEAS! _Sponsored by Monster Donut._

Charlie watched Percy squint at the sign. "Monster Donut?"

"Oh, yes," Kate said pleasantly. "One of our corporate sponsors."

Percy didn't look happy. Charlie didn't either; he had heard _things_ about that corporation. His dad had fought a Hydra once because of them. Percy glanced at a tank filled with hippocampi lethargically drifting around and muttered. "This isn't right." Charlie nodded in agreement. It was horrifying to see, the poor creatures looked so drugged up they probably couldn't even feel anything. Then he felt his father shudder in anger next to him and growl at Kate. "How can you keep them here?"

Charlie curiously turned to look at what had set his father off and felt sucker punched by what he saw. At the bottom of a much smaller tank, two Nereids sat cross-legged, facing each other, playing a game of Go Fish. They looked incredibly bored. Their long green hair drifted around their faces with their eyes half closed.

White hot anger shot through him and he whipped around to glare at Kate along with his father as she responded to the question. "I know," She sighed, much to the green eyed boy's ire. "They aren't very interesting. We tried to teach them, but with no luck, I'm afraid. I think you'll like this tank over here much better."

Percy protested but Kate ignored him.

"Holy mother of goats!" Coach shouted. "Look at these beauties!"

He was staring in awe at two thirty foot long sea serpents, with glowing blue scales and powerful jaws. In tank right beside it, a squid the size of an eighteen wheeler, with a beak like a huge bolt cutter, was peeking at the from its cement cave. A third tank held a dozen humanoid creatures with smooth seal bodies, canine like faces and human hands. They sat on the sand at the bottom of the tank, building things out of Legos, seeming as loopy as the Nereids.

"Are thoses-?" Percy choked on the question.

"Telkhines?" Kate finished. "Yes! The only ones in captivity."

Percy looked as horrified as Charlie felt. "But they fought for Kronos in the last war! They're dangerous!"

Kate rolled her eyes as if he was stupid. "Well, we couldn't call it 'Death in the Deep Seas' if these exhibits weren't dangerous. Don't worry. We keep them well sedated."

Charlie continued to worry.

As did Frank as he asked. "Sedated? Is that legal?"

Kate ignored him. She kept walking through the room, pointing at other exhibits. Charlie wanted to stop the tour and get out of Atlanta. He had an uneasy feeling about this whole building.

"And these sea monsters," Kate narrated in front of them. "can grow five hundred feet long in the deep ocean. They have thousands of teeth. And these? Their favorite food is demigod-?"

"Demigod?" Frank sounded alarmed. Charlie just thought it was so _typical_ that its favorite food was demigod, because why not?

Kate continued. "But they eat whales or small boats, too." Kate turned to Percy and blushed. "Sorry…I'm _such_ a monster nerd! I'm sure you know all this being the son of Poseidon, and all."

Charlie's dad simply eyed her with suspicion.

"Who _are_ you?" Percy demanded. "Does Kate stand for something?"

"Kate?" She looked slightly confused. "Oh…no, it's-"

"Hello!" A new voice said, bouncing around the room.

Charlie whipped around and stared at the new person. He was a small man wearing a wet suit in several, eye burning shades of green. Glittery silver words printed down the side read: PORKY'S FOLLIES. A headset microphone was clamped over his greasy hair. His eyes were milky blue, one set higher than the other, and though he smiled, he didn't seem friendly.

Charlie's spidey-senses were tingling as he stared at this _individual_. He was fairly certain shit was about to hit the fan. Charlie hoped he ducked quickly enough.

"Visitors," 'Porky' said. "Welcome to Phorcys's Follies!" Charlie decided he did not like Phorcys's Follies. He was pretty sure his dad agreed. The dude swept his arms through the air, as if directing their attention. Nothing happened.

"Curse it," He grumbled. "Telkhines, that's your cue! I wave my hands, and you leap energetically in your tank, do a synchronized double spin, and land in pyramid formation. We practiced this!"

The sea demons ignored him, to Porky's annoyance. Charlie felt no sympathy for the wet-suit wearing man. He also decided to mentally call him glitter boy.

Coach Hedge moved closer and sniffed his glittery outfit. " _Nice_ outfit." Sadly, the satyr said it genuinely instead of sarcastically. Charlie didn't trust the goat's fashion sense anyway.

"Thank you!" Porky said happily. "I am Phorcys."

Frank shifted his weight. "Why does your suit say _Porky?"_

Glitter Boy snarled. "Stupid uniform company! They can't anything right."

Kate gestured to her name tag. "I told them my name was _Keto_. They misspelled it as _Kate._ My brother…well, now he's Porky."

"I am not!" He snapped. "I'm not even a little porky. The name doesn't work with Follies, either. What kind of show is called Porky's Follies? But you folks don't want to hear us complain. Behold the wondrous majesty of the killer squid."

He gestured dramatically toward the tank. This time, fireworks went off in front of it, sending geysers of golden sparkles. Music sounded from the speakers. The lights got turned all the way up to ten and revealed…an empty tank.

Charlie wasn't sure whether to be happy about that or not. Porky certainly wasn't. "Curse it!" He yelled again. He then turned to his sister. "Keto, training the squid was _your_ job. Juggling, like I said. Maybe a little bit of flesh-rendering for the finale. Is that too much to ask?"

"He's shy," Keto defended the missing squid. "Besides, each of his tentacles has sixty-two razorlike barbs."

She looked at Frank. "Did you know the monstrous squid is the only beast known to eat demigods whole, armor and all, without getting indigestion? It's true!"

Charlie wasn't sure he liked how she talked about these creatures, he felt like he was watching Animal Planet: Terrifying Monster Addition. It sounded like a terrible show to him. "Keto!" Glitter Boy glared. "You'll bore our guests with so much information. Less education, more entertainment! We've discussed this."

"But- "

"No buts! We're here to present 'Death in the Deep Seas!' Sponsored by Monster Donut!"

The words reverberated through the room. Lights flashed, nearly blinding Charlie. Smoke rolled up from the floor, making donut-shaped rings that smelled faintly like actual donuts. Charlie blinked rapidly to get rid of the spots in his eyes as Porky directed them out of the room. "Hold it." Percy said firmly, glancing at Charlie worriedly.

Glitter Boy's smile fell. "Yes?"

"You're a sea god, aren't you? Son of Gaea?" Percy asked.

Phorcys sighed dramatically. "Five thousand years, and I'm still known as Gaea's little boy. Never mind that I'm one of the oldest sea gods in existence. Far older than _your_ upstart father, by the way. I'm the god of hidden depths! Lord of watery terrors! Father of a thousand monsters! But, no…nobody knows me. I make one little mistake, supporting the Titans in their war, and I'm exiled from the ocean. To Atlanta, of all places!"

"We thought the Olympians meant _Atlantis,_ " Keto said. "Their idea of a joke, I guess, sending us here."

Charlie looked at her. "And you? You're a goddess?"

"Keto, yes," She smiled at him. Charlie didn't smile back. Keto then explained that sea was the goddess of sea monsters and giant sea life before telling them about sea serpents and their eating habits. Poor Frank looked sick to his stomach. Coach however chatted with the goddess until Phorcys interrupted them.

"Stop!" He yelled. "You're ruining the show! Now, witness our Nereid gladiators fight to the death!" A disco ball descended into the Nereid tank, making the water light up with multiple colors. Two swords fell to the bottom and laid in the sand, The Nereid simply ignored them and continued playing Go Fish. "Curse it!" came from Porky a fourth time.

Charlie decided now would be a good time to slink off and do some detective work as Keto took Coach Hedge on his own tour. Percy and Frank didn't notice him vanish back down the way they came. Charlie walked through the first room and ducked into a door he had noticed earlier. The only reason he had was because there was a small sign, barely noticeable, that read: **SUPPLY CLOSET, EMPOYEES ONLY.**

Charlie strived to break rules and go places he didn't belong, which meant he had to at least see the room. It was just a supply closet, right? Wrong.

Charlie stared in shock at the room as he registered what was in front of him. An entire wall covered with pictures of him and his cousins, siblings included. Pictures that he didn't remember being taken.

One showed him at ten sitting cross-legged on the ground with his dad in front of him, teaching him sword fighting from the looks of it. Another was of Ethan walking down the street, pushing a stroller in front of him, the twins most likely inside it. A third caught his attention though and he stared at it in horror. It showed the Zoe, Louis, Gabby and Gemma with gags in their mouths sitting on a stone floor, hands and feet bound as Andre and Alejandro were caught mid cry, fat tears streaming down their faces.

Charlie snapped a hand out, ripping the photograph from the wall and sprinted out the room, retracing his steps, headed back to his father. Murderous rage writhed through him as he tore through the hallways, thinking one thing and one thing only. Someone was going to pay for this.


	19. Charlie IX

**(Charlie POV)**

Charlie was sprinting as hard as he could through the halls, on his way to his father. He didn't get very far when a body tackled him from the side.

Slammed into the wall, Charlie gasped as his head banged off of it. Stars danced behind his eyes as he instinctively kneed his attacker in the stomach. The attacker swore and jerked away. Charlie continued with his assault, throwing a kick at the person's knee and giving an upper cut. The attacker, a male from what Charlie could see, stumbled away. He followed, pulling out Riptide and uncapping it. The guy pulled out his own sword that was hanging by his belt and lunged for him.

Charlie countered his attacks, looking for an opening. He found one a second later that seemed strangely familiar. Still he took advantage of it, knocking the guy to the ground. He quickly put the guy into a strangle hold, wrapping left arm around his neck, using his right hand as support. He followed that up by wrapping his legs around the guy's abdomen, trapping his arms to his side.

The guy bucked and kicked, unable to get out of the hold. Charlie tensed his muscles and waited the guy out, finally getting a good look at him. He wore a black field jacket with a dark grey hoodie underneath with the hood pulled over his head, black jeans, and black steel toed combat boots. Charlie moved his right hand and tugged the hood down, sucking in a sharp breath when he saw who it was.

Hugo Moore, a son of Ares. Payton's right hand man and Charlie's old 'nemesis', Hugo had constantly hounded Charlie for fights, wanting to prove that he could kick the son of the 'Heroes of Olympus' ass. Charlie had never taken him up on it before, always managing to avoid him. At least until Hugo decided to piss him off by talking shit about his cousins and little sister. Charlie had snapped after he called Lily a whore and a waste of space, resulting in Charlie putting Hugo in the infirmary with three broken ribs, a concussion and a fractured wrist.

Hugo's resentment obviously grew. Charlie had been punished for doing it, but Hugo never let it go. When he heard what Payton had been doing to them, he had immediately joined her along with his best friend Atlas Pierce, who bizarrely enough was a son of Aphrodite and didn't like fighting at all. Still the two of them became Payton's henchmen and began making Charlie's life as horrible as possible before disappearing with Payton when she ditched camp.

Charlie growled lowly. "What the hell are you doing here, Moore?"

"None of your business, Jackson!" Hugo snapped back, kicking his legs up and kneeing Charlie in the face. Charlie flinched back, hand flying to his face. He felt around and winced, his nose was broken for sure. Still, Charlie gritted his teeth and focused on the fight, ducking under Hugo's right hook. Charlie grabbed his outstretched arm and held it, pushing his elbow to the breaking point. Hugo howled and slapped his left hand around, trying to get out of his grip. Charlie held fast and continued his questioning.

"Why are you here, Moore?" Charlie yelled. "What did you do to the little ones?"

"We're gonna make you pay, Jackson! You and your entire family!" Hugo screamed, kicking him in the stomach.

Charlie stumbled, giving Hugo the opportunity to break out of his grip and sprint away. Charlie made after him, screaming at him to stop. Hugo ducked through a doorway and closed it behind him. Charlie swore and threw his shoulder into the door, pounding his fist on it when it didn't give. "Fuck!" He screamed, punching it one last time, bloodying his knuckles.

He put his head on the door and took a couple deep breaths, reining his emotions in. He shuddered in anger before pushing off the door and ran back to his dad, pushing his legs as fast as they could go. ' _What the hell did Hugo mean by 'making us pay' exactly? And why the fuck did he say 'we'_?' Charlie thought furiously as he took a sharp corner, reentering the room he had last seen his father in. He scowled as he saw that he and Frank were no longer in the room.

He glanced around and spotted a red sign above a tunnel that hadn't been there when he left. He stalked through and blinked at the scene he happened upon. Percy and Frank were in a glass bubble that had seemed to appear out of nowhere. Percy was pounding on the glass and yelling. "We won't cooperate, Phorcys!"

Glitter Boy chuckled. "Oh, I'm optimistic. If you won't fight each other at first, no problem! I can send in fresh sea monsters every day. After you get used to the food here, you'll be properly sedated and will follow directions. Believe me, you'll come to love your new home."

The dome over Percy's head cracked and began to leak water. Charlie darted to his left and hid behind a little nook he found, peeking his head out just enough to still see what was going on. "I'm the son of Poseidon! You can't imprison me in water. It's where I'm strongest." Percy said firmly.

Charlie couldn't help but face-palm as his dad said that. ' _Really, Dad? Really?_ ' Charlie thought, watching Porky laugh.

"What a coincidence! It's also where _I'm_ strongest. This tank is specially designed to contain demigods. Now, have fun, you two. I'll see you at feeding time!"

And with that the dome caved in.

* * *

If Charlie wasn't in such a bad mood he would be on the floor, laughing till he cried. Still a rush of amusement rolled through him as he watched his uncle turn into a goldfish, a giant koi to be exact.

' _Uncle Frank, you are never living this down._ ' Charlie thought, allowing a couple chuckles to slip through as he slinked out of his hiding spot and walked to the newly formed tank. He stopped a few feet away from it and waited for his dad to notice him.

 _Dude._ Charlie suddenly heard in his dad's voice _. A goldfish?_

 _I freaked. We were talking about goldfish, so it was on my mind. Sue me._ Frank answered.

 _I'm having a telepathic conversation with a giant koi,_ Percy grumbled. _Great. Can you turn into something more…useful?_

Absolute silence. Charlie was truly fighting hard not to giggle now. _Sorry._ Frank said, incredibly embarrassed. _I'm stuck. That happens sometimes when I panic._

Percy sighed dramatically. Charlie snorted and joined the conversation. _This is just sad to look at._ Charlie said.

Percy's head snapped up and around, staring at his son in shock. Then his expression shifted to outrage. _Where did you go? Why is your nose bleeding? Damn it, I told you to stay out of trouble!_ Percy yelled at his son.

 _I'll tell you later, right now we need to get you two out of there._ Charlie said, hoping to redirect his father. It thankfully worked.

 _Fine_ , Percy grumbled before giving Charlie a look. _But when we get out of here, you're telling us everything._ Charlie gave a nod. Percy looked slightly mollified by his agreement as he turned back to Frank, the koi. _You're absolutely sure you can't change into something better suited for this?_ Percy damn near begged.

Frank didn't give him the answer he wanted. _Sorry Percy._

 _Don't worry about it._ Charlie told him as he eyed the tank, uncapping Riptide. _I'm sure Dad and I can you both out of there._ Charlie brought up his sword and slammed the hilt into the glass. A small, almost minuscule crack appeared. Charlie scowled at it, unhappy with the results of his break out attempt.

Percy tried it as well from his side and didn't even get a scratch. The Jackson men scowled as one and tried to control the water together, but it was under Porky's control. Percy looked dejected while Charlie glared at the glass and thought furiously about how to break it. Just as he was deciding to punch it till it broke, Frank yelled at them.

 _Look!_ Frank said urgently. Charlie twisted to look behind him and widened his eyes when he saw Coach Hedge and Keto making their way to them, seemingly blissfully unaware that the three males were in front of them. Charlie silently cursed and darted back to his little nook, ducking away from view.

 _Charlie, what are you doing?_ Percy asked, alarmed.

Charlie responded. _If Keto sees me, I'm gonna get thrown in there with you. I'd like to avoid that if possible._

 _How are we gonna get the coach to notice us?_ Frank said hurriedly.

 _I'm on it._ Charlie said, fishing around in his pocket for something to throw. He pulled out Riptide in pen form and with a shrug, hurled it at his dad and uncle's fish tank. It bounced off harmlessly but made a quiet _tink_ when it hit, loud enough for the satyr to turn curiously and stare at the tank in shock. Charlie was a little impressed though; Hedge threw on a calm mask, pointed at the ceiling and screamed. "Gods of Olympus, what is that?" before karate-kicking her on the back of the head after taking his fake leg off. Keto fell like a sack of bricks to the floor.

Charlie rushed back out of his hiding place as Hedge yelled at his dad. "What are you doing in there, Jackson?" Hedge demanded.

Charlie answered for him. "Phorcys trapped them in there. He's gonna keep them as entertainment while you and I will most likely be killed. Gaea put him up to it, I assume."

"Where's Frank?" Hedge questioned, spinning around to face Charlie.

Charlie's lips twitched and he pointed at the giant koi. Hedge stared before shaking his head, presumably at Frank's choice of aquatic animal. Percy began pointing frantically behind them and Charlie whipped around, seeing Keto moving slightly. He quickly kicked the goddess in the face as hard as he could, knocking her unconscious again.

Percy chastised him. _We need to get out of here, don't worry about her._

Charlie begrudgingly nodded. _I think the best course of action would be for all four of us to hit the glass at the same time._

Percy agreed and told back to human. Charlie relayed the plan to Hedge and the four of them got into position. "One, two, three!" Charlie said while counting his fingers down.

Frank turned human and shoved his shoulder into the glass while Hedge roundhouse kicked it. Charlie once again brought Riptide's hilt down on the glass with all his strength and helped his dad take control of the water and _pushed_ with all his might. The glass cracked, fractures appearing all over the glass wall, before suddenly shattering and a wall of water slammed into Charlie and the coach.

Laid out on the floor, Charlie scrambled to get up as Hedge questioned his dad. "Pan's pipes, Jackson! What were you _doing_ in there?" Hedge hollered, spitting out salt water.

"Phorcys! Trap! Run!" Percy yelled as he began sprinting out of the room, dragging Charlie behind him. Charlie stumbled briefly before catching up to his dad, wanting to get as far away as possible from Atlanta. Frank and Hedge were right on their heels as they tore through the aquarium, alarms blaring loudly.

"Percy Jackson!" Phorcys boomed over the sound system. They ignored it completely and continued running.

They flew through the mortal's entrance and were out the door, still sprinting. Charlie squeezed his dad's hand that gripped his tightly and made a mental promise to help him get those captive creatures to safety. Percy squeezed back but kept his gaze firmly in front of him as they navigated through the mass of bodies on the sidewalk blocking their way. Charlie swallowed harshly, thinking about what had transpired in that aquarium and shivered slightly. He was most definitely going to have nightmares tonight.


	20. Charlie X

**(Charlie POV)**

Charlie had never been so out of breath before in his life. Tumbling on to the floor of the _Argo ll,_ Charlie laid there gasping for air right beside his father who looked in worse shape than him. Coach Hedge followed them while Frank staggered his way downstairs to look for Leo. Zack and Ethan who had been sparring on the deck gaped at them. Zack snapped out of it just long enough to question them.

"What the hell happened to you guys?" He demanded.

Percy waved at Charlie to talk. He groaned but found the strength to sit up and explain what happened. "We went to the aquarium, it turned out to be a trap by Gaea. Dad and Uncle Frank got tossed into a fish tank, Hedge discussed sea monsters with Kate, and Porky apparently said something about Charleston ."

Zack and Ethan continued their silent staring. Charlie couldn't summon the energy to care. Annabeth, Hazel, Emily and Frank came upstairs and stuttered to a halt right beside them. Percy held Annabeth's hand weakly and stayed quiet, still breathing heavily. Suddenly Leo, Piper, Jason, Lily and Silena came running up the stairs. "What? What?" Leo cried, waving around the half-eaten grilled cheese in his hand. "Can't a guy even take a lunch break? What's wrong?"

"Followed!" Frank gasped, hands on his knees and panting.

"Followed by _what?_ " Jason asked.

"I don't know!" Frank panted out. "Whales? Sea monsters? Maybe Kate and Porky?"

Annabeth looked like she wanted to strangle Frank for his unhelpful explanation. "That makes absolutely no sense. Leo, you'd better get us out of here."

Leo put his sandwich between his teeth, grabbed Lily and ran for the helm. Soon the ship was gliding through the air and Charlie finally got his heartbeat under control again. Percy, Frank and Hedge recovered soon after Charlie did.

"Charleston," Percy said, hobbling around tiredly. "Set course for Charleston."

"Charleston?" Jason looked like he had been there before, Charlie noted. "What exactly did you find in Atlanta?"

Frank opened his backpack and pulled out his nick-knacks. "Some peach preserves. A couple of T-shirts. A snow globe and, um, these not really Chinese handcuffs."

Annabeth twitched and forced herself to breath. Charlie wearily scooted behind Silena who gave him a half amused, half annoyed look. "How about you start from the top- of the story, not the backpack." Annabeth glared.

They gathered around Leo and Lily so that they could hear. Zack disappeared for a second and reappeared with his med-kit. Charlie sat cross legged on the ground while Zack cleaned his wounds, painfully resetting his broken nose. Percy and Frank took turns telling the story, with Hedge interrupting with declarations like: "That was awesome!" or "Then I kicked her in the head!" Charlie waited for them to talk a little more about the bounty on their heads and Charleston before clearing his throat. Everyone turned to look at him.

"That's not the only thing that happened in Atlanta." Charlie said grimly.

Percy nodded his head. "Right, you disappeared for like ten minutes and came back with a broken nose and a bloody hand."

Annabeth looked worried. "What happened?"

Charlie sighed. "I slipped away to go check out an employees only door I had noticed on the way in. The only reason I did is because I noticed the Mist surrounding it, I thought it was like a information room or something."

"What was it?" Zack asked, concerned. He had finished cleaning Charlie's wounds and was now lounging against Jason's leg. The son of Jupiter gave him an amused look but let him stay where he was.

"Pictures of us Kids. Ones that I don't remember any of us taking _at all._ And then I looked closer and found this one." Charlie pulled out the picture of their siblings.

Ethan and Silena sucked in sharp breaths while Lily and Emily gasped. Zack roared and yelled. "Who the hell took them!?"

"Payton, I think." Charlie answered, glaring darkly at the photo.

The parents got a good look at it too and rage came across every single one of their faces. "How dare they!" Hazel growled.

"Charlie, why do you think Payton did it?" Ethan asked angrily, staring at him.

Charlie scowled. "Because I ran into Hugo in the aquarium. I was running back toward Dad when he body-checked me out of nowhere. We fought for a little bit before he told me 'We're going to make you pay. You and your entire family.' We fought a little more and than he bolted. I tried to follow him but he knew the aquarium better than me."

"Payton never goes anywhere without Hugo, or Atlas for that matter." Silena said grimly, eyeing the picture with distaste that masked a all consuming rage Charlie knew all too well.

Zack continued her thought process. "Which means they're going to show up again sooner or later, especially if they have are siblings."

Charlie nodded in agreement. "We need to start planning, now."

Annabeth cut in. "I remember you said her parents were on the Titans side in the Second Titan War, right?" The cousins all nodded their heads, various levels of curiosity on their faces. Annabeth looked like she had figured something out that she didn't like. "Could she be on Gaea's side?" Annabeth asked, focusing on Silena and Charlie.

The two shared a look and nodded, Silena verbally answering. "I wouldn't put it past her. Payton was never really the most stable of people." Silena said hesitantly, glancing worriedly at Ethan.

Ethan caught the look and rolled his eyes. "What she means to say is Payton has more than a couple screws loose. That bitch would kill every single one of us if she felt like it, wouldn't even bat an eyelid at the idea either." Lily, Emily, Zack and Charlie nodded grimly while Silena inclined her head towards Ethan, conceding to his explanation.

"So she's a threat." Jason stated, looking at his daughter.

Lily gave a sarcastic laugh. "Oh, she is way more than that. In a fighting sense, I'd put her in the same weight class as Charlie, who's the best fighter out of all six of us. In a intellectual sense, I'd say she could go head to head with Aunt Annabeth, with it depending on it being a matter of who's more lucky to win between the two."

Everybody had somber expressions on their faces. Charlie sighed and rolled to his feet, stretching his sore muscles. "That's not the main thing I'm worried about though. Mine is what are they going to do with our siblings? They're all powerful in their own right, so what's Payton going to do with that in her grasp?" Charlie said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Understanding dawned on Silena, from the expression Charlie saw on her face. "You're worried she's going to use their powers against us."

Charlie gave a nod but Frank frowned in confusion. "How would she do that? They're just kids, Louis isn't even seven yet." He said, looking worriedly at the photo.

Ethan shook his head. "Kids with the powers of their parents, some of whom are in a weight class all of their own. For example, Uncle Percy can summon hurricanes when he needs to and has had The Curse of Achilles. Even if he doesn't have the invulnerability or strength anymore, it does have affects."

"Like what?" Annabeth asked, looking interested and slightly concerned.

Ethan shrugged. "Like Charlie for instance, when he got stabbed in the shoulder he should have been down for _at least_ a day. Instead, he's off traipsing through Kansas highway's and shrugging off lightning bolts from Uncle Jason who isn't exactly a slouch, possessed or not."

"And that's because of the curse?" Piper inquired.

Ethan nodded. "The Apollo cabin ran tests on him once and confirmed it. He's got enhanced speed and strength with a faster healing response time."

"So, he's like a super hero?" Leo asked, making his debut in the conversation.

Emily made an _eh_ motion. "Think a weaker, not as buff Captain America."

Charlie scowled at her. "Really? You're going there?"

"Sorry," She muttered, not looking apologetic in the least. Charlie harrumphed but let it go.

"Anyway," Ethan smoothly transitioned the conversation back to the previous matter. "that's just Charlie. Silena can make tornadoes on whim if she wants to and send people flying twenty feet back. She also has a limited ability at charm-speak."

"Oh, wow." Piper blinked in shock. Silena simply nodded when she got questioning looks from her and Jason. They stared at her in surprise until she glared at them in embarrassment, prompting them to stop.

"Lily's nickname is Firecracker because she has a tendency to quite literally explode in a blaze of fire and attack whoever pissed her off," Ethan continued explaining. "because who her mom is, her power over fire is stronger then Uncle Leo's though not by much. Emily is an up-and-coming enchantress, with one of Hecate's kids mentoring her back in the future. She's also expected to be one of the more powerful shapeshifters the Zhang family has had. Zack can keep up with Uncle Nico's shadow traveling, which is exhausting by the way. He also can raise up to a hundred skeleton warriors if he absolutely has to. As for me, I can give my strength away as well as control people's emotions just enough to keep them from drowning them and help them stay focused. And if I desperately need to, I have the ability to borrow strength and other people's abilities." Ethan finished.

The adults all looked shocked, staring at their kids in a completely new light. Percy made a strangled noise. "How are you this powerful?" He asked, staring at Charlie.

"Hecate and Athena," Charlie said. "they knew we would need every advantage we could get over the Gaea and the giants. So, the two of them unlocked our 'hidden potential' for the quest."

"Wait," Hazel said, confused. "so, you normally wouldn't be this powerful?"

Silena shook her head and answered. "If we had been allowed to naturally develop our powers, I'd say we would be at the level we are now at maybe, twenty? And that's if we worked our asses off. If we fix Tartarus and our future never comes to pass, in the new one we're going to be maybe half as powerful as we are now. That would make us stronger that the average demi-god but much weaker than say Clarisse or Uncle Percy."

"You can beat Clarisse?" Percy asked, startled.

"Silena, Ethan, Lily and I can by ourselves while the Terrors are more than capable if they work together." Charlie told him, before gaining a thoughtful expression. "The only time any of us have beat you was when Ethan, Zack, Emily and I were working together and that was after you had already taken out Silena and Lily." Charlie informed him. "Of course, you were a lot stronger and better at combat than you are now. Back then you had twenty three years of combat experience and training under your belt, right now you only have five and a half."

Percy looked a little disgruntled at the unintended dig at his fighting abilities but ignored it.

"So, in the new future, you guys will be less powerful than you are now." Piper stated instead of asking. They all nodded once again. "Well that's good to know."

Charlie shrugged. "If we succeed, everyone will live and Camp Jupiter will still be standing. I'll gladly give up my powers for that to happen."

His cousins all nodded in agreement and Silena redirected the conversation back towards Charleston. "So, Charleston," Silena said. "we need to go there, find a map to something that can heal the rift between Romans and Greeks. Dad, I think I remember you telling me something about you and Aunt Reyna going there once, is that right?"

Jason nodded his head. "Yeah, we went on a quest to salvage Imperial gold weapons from the C.S.S _Hunley."_

"The what?" Piper asked, confused.

"Whoa!" Leo excitedly said. "That's the first successful military submarine. From the Civil War. I always wanted to see that."

Ethan had a thoughtful look on his face. "Wasn't that designed by Roman demigods?"

Jason gave him a surprised glance but answered him. "Yes, it was. It held a secret stash of Imperial gold torpedoes, at least until we rescued them and brought them back to Camp Jupiter."

Hazel looked displeased at that tidbit of information as she crossed her arms. "So the Romans fought on the Confederate side. As a girl whose grandmother was a slave, can I just say…not cool?"

Jason did the 'I surrender' motion. "I personally wasn't alive back then. And it wasn't _all_ Greeks on one side and _all_ Romans on the other side. But, yes, not cool. Sometimes demigods make bad choices." Here he looked sheepishly at Hazel. "Like sometimes we're too suspicious, and speak without thinking."

Hazel stared at him as Jason elbowed Leo in the side. "Ow!" Leo yelped before catching on. "I mean, yeah…bad choices. Like not trusting people's brothers who, you know, might need saving. Hypothetically speaking."

Hazel regarded them with a look before nodding. "Fine. Back to Charleston. Are you saying we should check the submarine again?"

Jason shrugged. "Well…I can think of _two_ places in Charleston we might search. The museum where they keep the _Hunley_ is one. It has a lot of relics from the Civil War. A map could be hidden in one. I know the layout, I could lead a team inside."

"I'll go," Leo said. "That sounds cool."

Jason gave him a nod before turning to look at Frank. "You should come too, Frank. We might need you. Zack, you as well."

Zack gave a nod as Frank looked shocked. "Why? Not like I was much good at that aquarium."

"You did fine," Percy disagreed with him. Charlie backed up his dad by nodding at what he said. "It took all four of us to break that glass."

"Besides, you're a child of Mars," Jason further explained his reasoning. "The ghosts of defeated causes are bound to serve you. And the museum in Charleston has _plenty_ of Confederate ghosts. We'll need you to keep them in line. That's why I want to bring Zack along, the two of you will be more then capable of handling them."

Frank swallowed harshly but agreed. "Okay, sure." He then frowned at the Chinese handcuffs his fingers were caught in. "Um, how do you-"

Leo chuckled warmly at him. "Man, you've never seen those before? There's a simple trick to getting out." Frank tried again with no luck. Even Hazel was trying not to laugh now.

Charlie stifled his laughter and took a step toward Frank. "Here, let me- " Before Charlie could finish Frank disappeared, only for iguana to be in his place, lying on the floor with the handcuffs right beside him.

"Well done, Frank Zhang," Leo dryly stated. "That is exactly how people beat Chinese handcuffs. They turn into iguanas."

Everybody burst out laughing, unable to hold it in anymore. Charlie after a minute let his laughter fade and clapped Frank on the shoulder after he turned back to human. "I promise I'll show you the real solution later, Uncle Frank." Charlie chuckled.

Frank gave an embarrassed smile. "Thanks. Anyway, the museum is one place to search. But, uh, Jason, you said there were two?"

Jason's smile faded at the question and Charlie pulled his attention away from Frank's iguana episode and back to the task at hand. "Yeah," he said. "the other place is called the Battery, it's a park right by the harbor. The last time I was there…with Reyna, we saw something in the park. A ghost or some sort of spirit, like a Southern belle from the Civil War, gloating and floating along. We tried to approach it, but it disappeared whenever we got close. Then Reyna had this feeling, she said she should try it alone. Like maybe it would only talk to a girl. She went up to the spirit by herself and, sure enough, it spoke to her."

Everybody waited for him to continue but he stayed quiet. "What did it say?" Annabeth prodded.

"Reyna wouldn't tell me," Jason said, frowning a little. "But it must have been important. She seemed…shaken up. Maybe she got a prophecy or some bad news. Reyna never acted the same around me after that."

Annabeth looked like she had just made a decision. " A girl's adventure, then. Piper, Silena and Hazel can come with me." The three girls nodded in agreement. Hazel looked nervous while Piper looked defiant. Silena just looked resigned. Charlie gave her a smirk and she glared back at him.

Annabeth gave Percy a mischievous look. "And you, Percy, can watch the rest of the Kids."

Percy gave her a betrayed look. "That's just mean."

Annabeth simply chuckled before continuing on with her orders. "So that's settled," She turned to Leo. "Leo, how long until we reach Charleston?"

"Good question," He muttered, glancing at the console. "Festus just detected a large group of eagles behind us- long-range radar, still not in sight."

"Are you sure they're Roman?" Piper asked, leaning over the console.

Leo rolled his eyes at the question. "No, Pipes. It could be a random group of giant eagles flying in perfect formation. Of course they're Roman! I suppose we could turn around and fight- "

"Which would be a bad idea," Jason warned. "and remove any doubt that we're enemies of Rome."

Leo continued, ignoring the interruption. "Or I've got another idea. If we take the straight route to Charleston, we could be there in a few hours. But the eagles would over take us, and things would get complicated. _Instead_ , we could send out a decoy to trick the eagles. We take the ship on a detour, go the long way to Charleston and get there tomorrow morning."

Hazel immediately started to protest but Leo raised his hand. "I know, I know. Nico's in trouble and we have to hurry."

"It's June twenty-seventh." Hazel rushed to get out. "After today, four more days. Then he dies."

"I know! But this might throw the Romans off our trail. We should still have enough time to reach Rome."

Hazel scowled unhappily. "When you say _should_ _have_ _enough_ …"

"How do you feel about _barely enough_?" Leo offered.

Hazel put her face in her hands miserably. "Sounds about typical for us."

"Okay, Leo," Annabeth took the go-ahead for what it was. "What kind of decoy are we talking about?"

"I'm glad you asked!" Leo dramatically hit a few buttons on his console, calling up the 'decoy'. "Buford? Report for duty, please."

Frank took a startled step backwards. "There's somebody else on the ship? Who's Buford?"

Lily grumbled. "A peach-throwing maniac, that's who." Ethan snorted right beside her. He had found it especially funny how Leo had been told about Lily. Lily glared darkly at him, a promise of vengeance in her gaze. Ethan simply smirked at her, arrogance in his posture. Charlie and Silena shared exasperated looks but let the two continue to silently bicker.

Buford appeared on deck and Lily flipped her glare from Ethan to the coffee table. "This is Buford," Leo waved proudly at his insane table.

"You name your furniture?" Frank raised an eyebrow.

Leo snorted. "Man, you _wish_ you had furniture this cool. Buford, are you ready for Operation End Table?" The Terrors giggled at the name and Leo threw them a quick smile as Buford took off, carrying a white full laundry bag.

"A helicopter table," Percy muttered, staring after Buford. "Gotta admit, that's cool. What's in the bag?"

"Dirty demigod laundry," Leo said nonchalantly. "I hope you don't mind Frank."

Frank choked hilariously. "What?"

"It'll throw the eagles off our scent."

"Those were my only extra pants!"

Leo gave an uncaring shrug. "I asked Buford to get them laundered and folded while he's out. Hopefully he does." He rubbed his hands together with a grin. "Well! I call that a good day's work. I'm gonna calculate our detour route now. See you all at dinner!"

Everyone slowly dispersed, Charlie immediately informing his parents that he was going downstairs to crash. Percy told him he'd be down in a few. ' _At least one thing came out of this._ ' Charlie thought tiredly as he walked downstairs. ' _I can keep my promise of killing Payton now._ '


	21. Silena IX

**(Silena POV)**

Silena was conflicted on her feelings about Charleston. On one hand, she had been getting antsy staying the ship for so long but on the other hand, she _really_ didn't want to run into Hugo or worse; Atlas.

Atlas just plain hated her, and for a reason she didn't get. It wasn't because she was pretty or because of something she did to him. No, it was because her mother had threatened to banish him from Camp Half-Blood and denied entry into Camp Jupiter, with both Camp's backing.

Why did she do that, you might ask? Well, it was because Atlas had a rare power, even more rare than charm-speak. Atlas had the ability to control people's emotions, more specifically; he could make people fall in love, or _out_ of it too.

He had pulled a very stupid move one month and a half before he left camp with Hugo and Payton, most likely ordered by Payton. He tried his hardest, and almost succeeded, to make Silena's parents fall out of love.

Atlas had been smart too, he did it so subtly that almost nobody had noticed it at first. In the beginning it was small arguments between the two; clean up the house once in a while, stop working so late, etc. Then it turned into Piper accusing Jason of not loving her and Jason accusing her right back of cheating on him. Both accusations were unfounded and untrue, which should have been a warning sign to Silena but she was too caught up in the family drama.

Thank the gods Charlie and Ethan were both suspicious assholes by nature and believed that there was no such thing as being too paranoid.

The two amateur detectives had decided that there was absolutely no way that Silena's parents would act like this without some kind of magical tampering. So they went digging. Eventually they caught Atlas manipulating her mother into thinking Jason was going to leave her for _Annabeth_ of all people, who had laughed hysterically when she heard that part of the story and reassured Piper that she was deeply in love with Percy, and that even if she wasn't, Jason was simply not her type. Whatsoever.

But the two boys had quickly knocked him out and stuffed him into an unused room in the Big House before getting Nico to grab Hazel from Camp Jupiter and cancel whatever spell Atlas had the married couple under. She later told them all after the chaos had died down that if Charlie and Ethan had waited a week more the spell's affects would have been permanent. It still took her parents a long while to get back to where they were.

They had kept Atlas prisoner for a month, demanding to know who put him up to it. Silena had always suspected that he was the one that suggested her as the one for Payton to kill before the two of them and Hugo left camp.

Silena would never forgive him for that. Her family had been through _hell_ those three weeks Atlas had them under his spell, Louis had nightmares for _months_ after that incident. Their parents had to constantly reassure him that they were still happily together. And when Silena had been stabbed, her baby brother had felt guilty because he had gotten up to get water when she was attacked and hadn't noticed anything. It had taken months of reassurances, therapy, and Charlie promising to show him everything he knew about sword fighting for his guilt to lessen. Louis was only six years old.

So, if Silena was going to kill him for anything, it would be for that.

* * *

Silena was deeply reminded of New Rome when she and the other three girls were walking around Charleston. Don't get her wrong, it was _gorgeous_. It just seemed a little freaky to her, how alike it was. The others seemed to agree with her at least.

Piper was constantly looking around for an ambush while Hazel and Annabeth seemed content to look around in awe. Silena just hoped it wouldn't turn into a massacre, she also hoped Charlie and Percy wouldn't spend too long in the bay discussing their aquarium jail break with the Naiads. They continued walking around the park they were in until Piper spotted something.

"There," she pointed across the harbor, a shimmering whit figure hovered over the water. The closer it got to them, the more Silena could make it out. _It was a woman,'_ Silena decided, eyeing the apparition with distrust but also with a weird sense of déjà-vu. She tilted her head curiously. It was kind of odd to be feeling like that about a specter she'd never met.

"The ghost," Annabeth said, staring at the white spirit floating on the water.

Hazel shook her head. "No, that's not a ghost. No kind of spirit glows that brightly."

Silena only distantly heard their conversation, too busy staring intently at the figure. An inkling of what it could be passed through her mind as she stepped forward with her mom towards it. The closer they got, the more Silena realized how right her guess was. Aphrodite, or Venus if you were feeling particularly Roman, was standing a few yards away from them now. Piper stopped right beside Silena and began glaring at the goddess, having apparently come to the same conclusion as Silena.

"It _is_ her," Piper grumbled as the other two came to a stop slightly behind them.

Silena saw the other two squint at the love goddess for a few moments before understanding expressions passed over their faces. "Aphrodite," Annabeth said in shock.

"Venus?" Hazel question in a similar tone to Annabeth.

"Mom," Piper said flatly.

"Hi grandma," Silena cheerfully waved at the goddess.

"Girls!" Aphrodite opened her arms like she wanted a big hug. Silena studied her for a moment before shrugging, walking over to the goddess and giving her a hug. Aphrodite hugged her back. "Hello darling, it's nice to meet you." her grandmother gently tousled her brown locks.

"Nice to meet you too, grandma." Silena mumbled back, staying in the hug as Aphrodite focused her attention back on the other three.

"I'm so glad you're here. War is coming. Bloodshed is inevitable. So there's really only one thing to do." she said serenely.

"And what is that exactly?" Annabeth asked skeptically.

"Why, have tea and chat, obviously. Come with me!"

* * *

Tea with Aphrodite had always been fun, even if her mother didn't strictly approve. It wasn't because Piper didn't want Silena to never know her grandmother, it had more to do with the fact that she didn't approve of what she was being told. Silena had been quick however to reassure her mother that she took anything that Aphrodite said with a grain of salt.

Sat at a white pillared gazebo, with a table in the middle with beautiful china and polished silverware, with plates of perfectly backed cookies, scones and muffins. Silena had been expecting nothing less from her seemingly eccentric grandmother.

Aphrodite sat with perfect posture and regarded the four girls before her with a wicked gleam in her eye that had Silena feeling uncomfortable, she knew what the look meant. She was proved right a second later. After the goddess exclaimed how she loved Charleston she gave Annabeth a coy look.

"Annabeth Chase, you've grown into quite a beautiful young lady. You should really do something with that hair, though." The goddess told the child of wisdom, said wisdom child looking slightly baffled at the conversation topic.

She then turned to Hazel. "And, Hazel Levesque, your clothes-"

"My clothes?" Hazel frowned in confusion, not understanding how the goddess could dislike them. Silena fought to keep her giggles quiet as Piper looked horrified by what Aphrodite was saying.

"Mother!" Piper just about whined. "You're embarrassing me."

"Well, I don't see why," The goddess waved her hand dramatically. "Just because _you_ don't appreciate my fashion tips, doesn't mean the others won't. I could do a quick makeover for Annabeth and Hazel, perhaps silk ball gowns like mine-"

"Mother!" That was totally a whine that just left her mother's mouth. Silena covered her mouth and leaned back in her chair, willing away the laughter that wanted to spill out of her.

"Fine," Aphrodite pouted as if her favorite toy had been taken away. "To answer your question, Annabeth, I am _both_ Aphrodite and Venus. Unlike many of my fellow Olympians, I hardly changed from one age to the next. In fact, I like to think I haven't changed at all! Love is love, after all, whether your Greek or Roman. This civil war won't affect me nearly as much as it will the others."

Hazel played with her cookie. "We're not in a war yet, my lady."

"Oh, dear Hazel." The goddess smiled like that was the most precious thing she had ever heard. "Such optimism, yet you have quite a few heart-wrenching days ahead of you. Of _course_ war is coming. Love and war always go together. They are the peaks of the human emotion! Evil and Good, beauty and ugliness."

A somber feeling passed through Silena as everyone focused more on what was being said. As much as she hated to admit it, the goddess was right. A ton of wars throughout history could have the blame laid at the feet of love.

"What do you mean," Hazel said, ignoring her sugar cookie. "heart-wrenching days?"

The goddess gave a patronizing laugh. "Well, Annabeth could give you some idea. I once made her a promise to make _her_ love life interesting. And didn't I?"

Annabeth's jaw tightened and Silena watched as she considered the silverware in front of her, obviously wishing to commit some serious violence. Instead she set down her tea cup and _glared_ at the goddess. "Interesting," Annabeth slowly spit out. "is putting it mildly."

"Well, I can't take _all_ the credit for your troubles." Aphrodite said, _far_ too happily. "But I do love the twists and turns in a love story. Oh, you three are such excellent stories- I mean girls. You do me proud!"

"Mother," Piper interrupted, shooting an apologetic look at Annabeth and Hazel. "is there a reason you're here?"

"Hmm? You mean besides the tea? I often come here. I love the view, the food, the atmosphere. You can just smell the romance and heartbreak in the air, can't you? Centuries of it."

As Aphrodite started regaling them with the history of Charleston, Silena boredly gazed around the area, double taking at a small sign a little ways from the gazebo, near a tiny well.

Silena stood up and walked over to it, a bad feeling in her gut worsening as she saw the sign had only a symbol painted on it- a dove with a lightning bolt in the background, largely considered the Grace family symbol. She clapped her hands together, making her daggers appear and approached the well. She frowned noticing the cover on the well was loose, looking like it had been recently messed with. Silena put one of her daggers away and used her newly freed hand to slowly lift the well cover. Staring into the well, she noticed nothing wrong with it and set her gaze on the circular piece of wood in her hand.

Clenching her teeth, she spun back around and stalked back to her mother and aunts who were still talking with her grandmother. Piper noticed her agitated state first as Aphrodite said goodbye and disappeared.

"What's wrong?" Piper demanded as Silena came into speaking range.

Silena stayed silent, simply tossing the well cover on to the table. The three women crowded around it and bristled with righteous fury.

"They're taunting us." Annabeth hissed.

It was a photograph taken the night Silena had been attacked. Payton was holding a camera in the selfie position, smiling brightly while a profusely bleeding Silena laid limply in the background, cuts and slices all over her arms and legs. The sleep shirt and yoga pants she wore was torn to shreds, showing off the gruesome sight of her stomach which was the most damaged part of her body. Four long, deep cuts lacerated up her body from her navel until stopping just shy of her ribs with a knife still stabbed into her.

It was a horrifying sight that had Silena backing away as her anger melted into fear and anxiety, doing her damnedest not to fall into a trauma induced flashback.

Piper thankfully noticed and hugged her tightly, glancing back at the other two with a mothers fury shown in every inch of her face. "It's time to get out of here."


	22. Silena X

Some days it just wasn't worth it. Running around the country and sometimes the world to battle monsters and giants and evil, scum-like earth goddess just lost appeal rather quickly.

It didn't help that Silena had quite literally been born for this, so it wasn't exactly like she could just quit. The only thing that stopped her from going insane was her family. Her parents, little brother, various aunts and uncles and her cousins made it all worth it though. Knowing they were safe made the long days and nightmare filled nights worth everything in her book.

Still, the Fates seemed to love testing that conviction. It all started that terrible night months before she and her cousins leapt into the past.

* * *

_Silena had never really known what pain felt like until that horrible night, every other injury that she had gotten before seemed like a paper-cut in the face of the pure agony that Payton had decided to force onto her._ _The worst part was that she hadn't even seen it coming. She knew Payton's personality had seemingly flipped and that she had started badmouthing them but she never saw this brutality coming._

_Silena had been peacefully sleeping, completely exhausted from training that day, when she felt a hand clamp over her mouth and Payton's voice in her ear, speaking in a cold voice._ " _Easy, Lena." Payton cooed cruelly. "Wouldn't want you to wake up Mommy and Daddy."_

_A chill ran down Silena's back as she slowly nodded her head, making sure to not make a sound. She opened her eyes and locked gazes with her ex friend, noting the pleased smile on her lips._

" _Good girl," Payton praised, grinning maliciously._ _Silena swallowed harshly and took stock of her situation. Payton was seated on the edge of her bed with a hand still covering Silena's mouth while her other one held a serrated knife that looked extremely sharp._

_Silena's gaze flickered to the door and Payton laughed, catching the look._ " _I wouldn't try it, Lena." She said with a smirk. "I've put up a silencing ward around your entire room, nobody's going to hear you scream."_

_Silena jerked her eyes up to Payton's, mentally pleading for to be lying. Payton simply chuckled and removed her hand from Silena's mouth and began tossing her dagger around._ " _Why?" Silena asked, her voice slightly hoarse._

" _Why not?" Payton replied before sighing and explaining further. "You and your cousins are going to the past to help your parents. I resent that mission, thusly I'm taking steps to ensure you all never succeed."_

_Silena stared at her in shock. "Why in the name of the gods would you resent that? We're going to make the world safer! Make sure Tartarus is fixed! How is that a bad thing?"_

_Payton sighed again and stood, beginning to pace. "It's not, at least for the good guys that is. However I like to think of myself as a freelance demigod, my parents do as well, so as a freelance demigod I can be_ persuaded _to someone else's side. Especially if they appeal to my, how do you say it? Ah, greed would be the word I suppose."_

_Silena gaped at her and slowly shook her head in disbelief. How could her friend that she had known for years be this cold? She had never acted like this before._ _Payton seemed to notice her disbelief and once again gave a venomous smirk. "You're wondering why I'm acting like this, right? How sweet, caring Payton Lewis could dare lock you in your room and brandish a knife around?"_

_Payton sat back on the bed and leaned in close, dropping her voice to a whisper. "Well I'll tell you a secret. The Payton you've known for years? She's not real. She's a figment of my imagination, a persona I can call upon anytime I want."_

_She leaned back and laughed at the slightly terrified look on Silena's face. "Yes, the great Hero's of Olympus and their children were duped by me, an unimportant, unassuming legacy of Apollo and Hermes. Who would've thought?"_

_Silena took a shaky breath and screwed up her pride, lifting her chin and looked her in the eye._ " _So what are you going to do to me, huh? Kill me?" She asked sarcastically, pushing her fear and horror as far down as she could._

_Payton gave a Mona Lisa smile. "Oh, don't worry. You'll die, just as soon as I get bored of you."_

_Silena's stomach dropped to her feet and she opened her mouth to question the dagger wielding girl what she meant by that when she was cut off by said girl plunging her dagger straight into Silena's thigh._ _Instantly Silena screamed loudly as white hot pain shot up her leg. After a few seconds Payton nonchalantly pulled it out, causing Silena to scream in agony once again._

_Silena gasped, barely registering the tears running down her face as she fought with herself, forcing her body to not go into shock._ _Payton simply wiped her dagger on her bed sheets and waited for Silena's breath to ease a little bit. She leaned forward again and continued smiling at Silena._

" _That was just a taste of what I have in store for you tonight. Before we go any further, I want tell you something important. You with me?" Payton snapped her fingers in front of Silena's face._ " _Good, I wanted to tell you that I never cared about you. Any of you really," Payton informed her, putting her hand on the thigh she had driven her dagger through and digging her fingers in._

_Silena gave another scream as another wave of pain slammed through her. She whimpered loudly as Payton kept her fingers where they were, squeezing every once in a while._ " _Now," Payton said, her eyes filled with a wicked glint. "Lets get this started shall we?"_ _With that she stabbed her dagger into Silena's other thigh, electing another scream of agony. She smiled happily throughout the entire thing._

_Forty five minutes later saw Silena sprawled on the bed, nearing unconsciousness, while Payton stood up and stretched. Payton gave a content look and patted Silena on the cheek._ " _That was fun, wasn't it? Now, you'll be a good girl and bleed to death, won't you?" She asked rhetorically._

_She gave a mocking grin and sauntered out of the room, leaving Silena to die alone, in her room with a dagger still in her gut._

_Silena continued her gasping breaths as she stared up at the ceiling. She started to silently sob as she thought about how her parents would find her. Laid out on her bed with various slashes, cuts and stab wounds all over her body. The only thing Payton didn't touch was her face. "It would be a crime in of itself to hurt such a pretty face." she'd cooed.  
_

_She forced herself to relax as she blocked out all thoughts of her family finding her like this. She took as many deep breaths as she could, closing her eyes and letting the warm darkness surround her._ _The last thing she heard before slipping off into the wonderfully pain free place that was unconsciousness was the sound of her door slamming open and Ethan screaming for help._

* * *

Back in the reality, Silena snapped out of her flashback and registered the couple of tears that had slid down her face as her mother cajoled her away from the pavilion as Hazel and Annabeth led the way, glancing back at them in concern. Silena sucked in a shaky breath as she wiped away her tears while Piper rubbed her back, ushering her towards the dock.

They didn't make it very far.

Three eagles flew down and landed in front of them, depositing their Roman counterparts on the ground. The eagles flew away once they saw their owners taking up defensive positions. Octavian, who Silena saw was in the middle, stepped forward while raising his visor. "Surrender to Rome!" The augur shrieked.

Hazel drew her sword and snapped. "Fat chance, Octavian."

Silena distantly heard Annabeth curse while she eyed the Roman's with a calculating stare. Piper shifted her stance and went from holding Silena to stepping in front of her. "Octavian, what happened at camp was a setup. We can explain." Piper said soothingly.

"Can't hear you!" Octavian hollered. "Wax in our ears, standard procedure when battling evil sirens. Now, throw down your weapons and turn around slowly so I can bind your hands."

Silena silently snarled at the term 'evil siren'. She hated that term, Hugo's nickname for had been that and it never ceased to get under her skin. Silena was also ignoring how she was using the situation to avoid thinking about her flashback. She'll deal with it later, preferably with a lot of chocolate and Charlie helping her work through it.

She forced herself back into the present as Annabeth tossed her dagger into the bay and Octavian yelled at her. "What was that for? I didn't say _toss_ it! That could've been evidence. Or spoils of war!" He raged.

Annabeth gave what Silena recognized as her 'dumb blonde' smile that only ever fooled idiots and people who didn't know her. Silena put Octavian into the first category as he huffed, seeming to believe it.

"You three," He pointed at the three remaining girls that were armed. "Put your weapons on the dock. No funny bus-"

Octavian was cut off by a wall of sea water slamming into him and the other two Romans. When it dissipated the three Romans were in the bay, sputtering and try to stay afloat with their heavy armor. Percy and Charlie stood on the dock, Percy holding Annabeth's dagger with a calm, steady expression while Charlie had a devious smirk on his face as he briefly eyed the Romans doggy-paddling about.

"You dropped this." Percy told Annabeth, his expression never changing.

Annabeth jumped forward and wrapped her arms around him. "I love you!"

Silena saw Charlie snicker at his parents before facing her. The moment he looked at her the smile was wiped off his face and he gained an angry, nearly homicidal look. He quickly walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "What's wrong?" He asked her urgently, eyes flickering over her face.

She swallowed and gave him the photo still clenched in her fist. He gently took it and glanced at it, his body noticeably tensing as he stared at it.

"Well, fuck." He said eloquently.

Silena huffed in agreement, burrowing herself into his chest. She gave a sigh as he wrapped his arms around her and tightly pulled her into him.

"Charlie? What's up?" Percy called from behind them, concern lacing his voice as he witnessed the hug.

She could feel Charlie's chest vibrate slightly as he replied. "We'll tell you later. Right now, we need to go."

Percy studied his son for moment before nodding his head. "Alright, let's get a move on."

They rushed onto the _Argo ll_ , Annabeth ordering them around immediately. "Piper, get below deck. Use the sink in the galley for an Iris-message. Warn Jason to get back here!" Annabeth yelled as she ran for the helm.

Piper nodded and sprinted off.

"Hazel, go find Coach Hedge and tell him to get his furry hindquarters on deck!"

"Right!"

"Percy, you and I need to get this ship to Fort Sumter."

Percy gave a sharp nod and moved to the mast. Annabeth turned to Charlie and Silena, giving them a thoughtful look.

"You two get downstairs. Charlie, you pass Silena off to either Ethan or Lily and get back up here." She told them.

"Yes ma'am." Charlie said curtly, slipping into what Silena liked to refer to as his 'soldier' mode.

Charlie wrapped an arm around her waist and guided them downstairs, taking them into the mess hall where Ethan and Emily were apparently in the middle of playing Jenga. The two stopped what they were doing and jumped to their feet.

"Ethan, take care of Lena. Short-stack, come with me." Charlie ordered in a 'don't fuck with me' tone. Ethan immediately took Charlie's place by her side and Charlie rushed out the door with Emily on his heels.

Ethan gently sat her down and gazed at her. "What happened Lena? What's got you so freaked out?" She sniffled and fought back a wave of tears as she thought about the picture that had been left for and the memories it brought with it. "Lena?" Ethan prodded again. "Tell me."

The dam inside her broke and she spilled everything that had happened in the last hour, the picture and flashback included. Ethan's jaw tensed till she was sure his teeth were cracking from the pressure but kept silent until she finished telling him everything, tears spilling from her eyes and sliding down her cheeks. He tugged her into a tight hug and ran his hand up and down her back while whispering reassurances in her ear. Silena cuddled into him and stayed there for what seemed like hours, focusing on her breathing.

Finally, Ethan pulled back and looked at her straight in the eyes. "We're going to find Payton and when we do, she is going to _die_." Silena found herself comforted by his matter-of-fact tone. He wasn't saying it like a threat, more like it was a simple fact of life. Payton Lewis was going to die when they found her, simple as that.

Silena took a deep breath and nodded. "Right, we'll find her, and our siblings. Everything going to be okay."

Ethan gave a confidant smile. "Exactly. After all, who can escape from our family?"

Silena chuckled and agreed. Their family _was_ ridiculously hard to avoid.

Despite the fact that their family might be in need of them they stayed where they were, Silena resting her head on Ethan's shoulder while he threw his arm across the back of her chair. They heard brief shouts every now and then from upstairs but thankfully weren't called up to help. Eventually the ship began moving and Silena gave Ethan a thankful smile before standing up and stretching.

"I think I'm going to go take a nap." Silena quietly told him.

He studied her for a minute before nodding his head, standing as well. "Call for us if you need anything." Ethan said before walking out of the room.

Silena followed him out the door and walked to her and Piper's shared cabin, collapsing on the bed immediately. She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling tiredly before shutting her eyes, welcoming the sleepiness that overcame her.

At least she was still alive.


End file.
